Faith driving Elijah’s dream
EVERY time he races, just before the gun goes off, Elijah Winnington drops to one knee to say a quick prayer.
One of the favourites for gold in the 400m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics, Winnington doesn’t pray to win; rather he offers thanks for what he’s already been given.
“It’s massively important,” Winnington said. “You’ll see me give honour to God once I finish my race too. Faith is massive in my life and I believe it is something that gets me through the water.”
Trusting in his own ability has also helped Winnington revive his swimming career after his self-belief started to sink.
Just two years ago, he was questioning his future in the sport after a rare disappointment, then 12 months ago, he faced the heartbreaking prospect of leaving his lifelong coach, whom he regards as a father figure.
A child prodigy likened to Ian Thorpe, Winnington has carried the burden of being labelled the next big thing in Australian swimming for as long as he can remember .
He was also told, for as long as he can recall, that a lot of boom teens burn out before they get to the senior ranks, a prophecy he feared had come true when he missed out on the Australian team for the 2019 world championships.
“It’s always something that stuck in the back of my mind,” he said. “It’s almost like I believed those rumours or those accusations to be true.”
Rattled and unable to practice during the pandemic lockdown, Winnington decided to leave the Gold Coast and his long-time coach Richard Scarce to join Dean Boxall’s squad in Brisbane.
It was a decision based on gut instinct more than anything else and breaking the news to Scarce was the hardest conversation he’s ever had.
The move to Boxall’s squad has paid off and he heads to Tokyo ranked No.1 in the world in 400m freestyle. He will also swim the 200m freestyle and the 4x200m relay.
His winning time for the 400m at the Australian Olympic trials was 3:42.65, the fastest in the world for two years.
Australia has four of the six fastest 400m swimmers in the world but with only two allowed to swim the event in Tokyo, the trials were a dogfight.
When they turned after 300m, Winnington was second behind the 2016 Rio gold medallist Mack Horton, but he stormed home to win.
“That’s given me a lot of confidence,” Winnington said.
“I‘ve worked for this my whole entire life. I have full confidence in myself that I can show Australia and show the world the type of athlete I am.
“I’m not going to buckle under the pressure and I’m just going to do the best I can.”