PARIS– Before Tokyo three years ago, US Olympic swimming coaches pondered how best to support their athletes and help pump them up before a race when there were no family, friends or fans in the stands. .
They started ringing cowbells.
As spectators return to the swimming pool in Paris on Saturday, American women’s coach Todd DeSorbo and his team plan to continue what has worked so well — even if it isn’t popular with Australian or other rivals. Given that almost everyone at the pool has heard about the Australians’ disdain for noise, the rivalry could reach new decibels at these Summer Games.
Australian star Cate Campbell, who is rarely afraid to speak her mind, referred to Americans as “such sore losers” after Australia won the most gold medals at world championships last year in Fukuoka, Japan, and expressed his disgust at all the bells ringing.
“I’ve never wanted to punch someone and steal their cowbell so much, and I really hope someone did,” Campbell said in an interview with Australia’s “Today” program last year.
You better believe Americans heard about this and took notice. Michael Phelps hopes Campbell’s complaints will only provide the US with more motivation, saying: “I would watch this every day, give me a little more.”
American Abbey Weitzeil said last month during testing in the US: “We are all bringing the cowbell.
“Whenever comments are made about your country or your jobs, it’s all competitive. I think we are all competitive, our competitive side comes out, so we are all bringing the cow bell, loud!”
DeSorbo did not realize that the motivational tactic would cause an international uproar.
“That was an interesting thing,” he said. “I think that by not having fans in the stands, it was necessary to create an environment to help them get excited, to help them motivate themselves. I guess if you can’t motivate yourself with the opportunity to win an Olympic medal, then I don’t know what would motivate you, but the fans and spectators certainly help. Being in an environment where we as a coaching staff had to create that excitement for them, I think probably the bells rang louder at those Olympics than ever before because of that.
“And that might be part of the reason why there’s a little bit of chatter about it, because it was really high in ’21 and probably has been ever since.”
In fact, the noise is not always popular with some athletes from opposing countries.
American Hunter Armstrong spoke about the 4x100m freestyle relay quartet chasing a world record in Paris, while also highlighting: “We definitely want that world record, but the most important thing is that we need more bells.”
Campbell shared how emotional she was about not hearing the U.S. national anthem as regularly at last year’s World Cup.
“Australia coming out on top of the world is one thing, but it’s so much sweeter to beat America,” she said. “There were a few nights, especially the first night of competition, where we didn’t have to hear ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ echoing around the stadium and I can’t tell you how happy that made me. If I never hear this song again, it will be too soon. So bring on Paris. That’s all I have to say, USA, stop being sore losers. …
“When we’re side by side in the warm-up areas, the USA has this infernal bell that they ring and when someone comes out to go to the competition pool they ring ‘USA! USA!’ and I’ve never wanted to punch someone so much.”
It turns out, Campbell will not be competing and perhaps not so bothered by the bells at Paris La Defense Arena.
However, these thoughtful gestures from the North American coaches – no matter how loud – meant a lot to their swimmers.
“Since I have been on Team USA, we have always taken great pride and interest in the success of our teammates. When they go into the prep room before a race, there’s usually a lot of noise,” Ryan Murphy told the Associated Press. “Whether it’s a cowbell, USA chants or a punch, we know we have the whole team behind us when we step on the blocks.”
DeSorbo and men’s coach Anthony Nesty are bringing in the last two head coaches as primary support: Stanford’s Greg Meehan on the women’s side and University of California-Berkeley men’s coach Dave Durden.
“I don’t necessarily know if it was something specific or in particular that we really set out to do or tried to do,” DeSorbo said of establishing the cow bell factor in Tokyo.
These Olympics have presented so many challenges with COVID-19 protocols that everyone is looking forward to a more family-friendly stay in Paris. DeSorbo remembers how the other coaches lamented that it was his first Olympic experience in 2021 — and while there were no complaints from him, DeSorbo can’t wait to get started here.
“It’s going to be amazing,” he said.
Together, they will continue to look for ways to encourage athletes even as fans return to the arena.
“I can’t wait to have fans at the Olympics again. They add a new level of excitement to the pool deck,” Murphy said. “Our races were one of the fastest ever and the fans improved our performance. I expect a loud and excited fan base.”
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