Giaan Rooney Interview
We have another great guest to bring you on Off The Podium today as we speak to Australian swimming legend Giaan Rooney about her amazing career and Olympic experiences! We find out from Giaan just how she was able to crack the Australian Swim team after only a few years of committing to the sport, and just how that then turned into winning a Commonwealth Games Gold Medal at the age of 15. We also find out just what it was like to debut at an Olympic Games in front of her home crowd, and why she always relished performing under high pressure. Added to this we learn just what moment of her career made her dad more proud than winning an Olympic Gold Medal and finding out just why her ice skating career didn’t quite take off after her retirement. It’s an amazing chat that no Olympic fan can miss!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, An Olympics Podcast coming to you today for another interview episode. And we have a big one for you today. Two-time Australian Olympian, three-time Australian Olympic medallist, Giaan Rooney. And can you believe this is the first Australian Olympic swimmer we have had on the show? You'll hear me talk a little bit about this, Giaan, in just a moment, that through all the guests we've had on over the years, it's baffling that we've never had an Australian Olympic swimmer. You think about the Olympics in Australia, you think about swimming. So we're finally ticking that off the list today. But this is such a fun chat with Giaan. Goes over her amazing career from winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games at the age of 15, her first Olympic Games at the age of 17, and getting to experience that in Sydney, the highs and lows of the 2001 World Championships, and just how she feels about her last ever race back at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. A bit of a controversial one, if many people remember what happened in that 50 metre backstroke final, but she goes over how she was feeling there and everything that came from that. It's a fun chat, insightful chat. You're also gonna learn more about her ice skating abilities, her on air hosting abilities, working with Basil Zemplas, and even what made her dad more proud than winning an Olympic gold medal. Stay for that one. You'll love hearing that story. But here's our chat with three time Olympic medallist, Giaan Rooney.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's really interesting to me today on Off The Podium to think that of all our guests that we've ever had on this show, and all of the athletes we've had from swimming, we've never actually had an Australian Olympian from the sport of swimming on this show. But we're about to break that duck today with one big guest. She is a three-time Olympic medallist, a five-time world championship medallist in long course, a four-time world championship medallist in short course, a three-time Pan Pacific medallist, a six-time Commonwealth Games medallist, and more importantly, six-place finisher on Torvill and Deane's Dancing on Ice, meaning that I'm a bit interested to see if maybe the Winter Olympics were as a possibility for our guest today. It's a pleasure to welcome to the show Giaan Rooney. Giaan, welcome. It's a pleasure to chat with you today.
GIAAN ROONEY: Wow, we covered a vast majority of interest there.
BEN WATERWORTH: All the highlights.
GIAAN ROONEY: Frozen water.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is that something that ever gets brought up, your time on Torvill and Deane's Dancing on Ice?
GIAAN ROONEY: Well, it's actually a little bit of a sore spot because you say I came sixth. I say I had to retire injured. I only got one show done and then broke and dislocated my ankle at training the next morning. So I was absolutely devastated. It was the first thing I did out of swimming. And so had an athlete's hat still on, trained my guts out, did everything right to learn how to ice skate, did one live show, wanted to be better, back on the ice at 8 a.m. the next morning, boom, in warmup. Twisted, broke, dislocated my ankle, still got a rod and five screws in there, which goes to show that swimmers aren't very good on land in general.
BEN WATERWORTH: So you then watch Winter Olympics now and watch figure skating and go, God, I hate that sport.
GIAAN ROONEY: Yes and no. I always had, if anything, I've got even more appreciation for what they do and how difficult the manoeuvres that they pull off are. But, and I would love to ice skate, but I'm actually a little bit scared now. I did eight weeks of training, one show, broke my ankle. I feel like I haven't reached my full potential.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, well, hey, you know, how many months are we away from Beijing? You got plenty of time to quickly peak or 2026. Go, go.
GIAAN ROONEY: And we'll just leave that there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. But it actually really interested me to think that we've not had an Australian Olympics. And obviously we spoke to Joanna Griggs about her career. And unfortunately for Jo, she wasn't able to crack the Olympics. We've spoken to a couple of Canadian Olympic swimmers. But I mean, gosh, when you think about the Olympics in Australia, you think of swimming, Giaan. So it's kind of, it's taken us a while to sort of get here. But I mean, you know, I feel very honoured to be your first. Well, we've got to kick things off with a bang, right? I mean, we said no to all like Thorpey wanted to come on, like, you know, Susie, they were begging to come on. No, no, we want Giaan.
GIAAN ROONEY: Let's face it, it's not like we've got many great Australian Olympic swimmers, do we? We're really kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel. So, you know, I can understand why you chose me. Absolutely.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes. But I mean, it's, we were talking a little bit off air kind of sort of about, obviously, you know, your career and kind of, you know, we had a bit of a joke about sort of, you know, there's no way that you're this age anymore, Giaan, because then it makes me this age and that sort of stuff. I mean, is this something that now given the successful career you formed after your swimming career that people still want to even sort of talk to you about, like, hey, like, talk to me about the Olympics, talk to me about the Commonwealth Games and how you got into the sport.
GIAAN ROONEY: There's lots of different components to this question in the fact that I retired in 2006 at the age of 23. And so for some people of that generation, if you like, who were watching swimming at that point in time, I've kind of frozen in time as a 23 year old at that age. And then, so whenever I get the question, oh, I used to love watching you swim, or I was always cheering when you were swimming. And I'm like, well, you're showing your age. That's over 15 years ago now. So it's one of those ones. And then I can almost tell the generational gap because then there's the younger generation that probably only know me or have heard of me from TV and media career. So there's definitely these two trains of thought, which I don't mind at all, but I do find it hilarious when parents come up and say, with their kids and say, which they're eight, they're seven, they've been born way after I retired and say, you should get this lady's autograph. She's an Olympian. A long time before you were born. So yes, I'm on the ripe old age of 38 now. And in some ways my swimming career feels like a lifetime. It feels like another person achieved those things back then just because so much has happened in my life since. So I feel very fortunate to say that I'm incredibly grateful for my time as an athlete and I owe the sport of swimming so much, but I don't miss it at all either. I think that's a really healthy place to be.
BEN WATERWORTH: When was the last time you got in a pool and even swam a lap?
GIAAN ROONEY: Haven't swam a lap since the day I retired in 2006. Don't even own togs that would be appropriate to go for a swim in, so.
BEN WATERWORTH: So you're saying that I could like challenge you to a race and I might win?
GIAAN ROONEY: You probably would, yep.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, okay.
GIAAN ROONEY: Well, that's put on the bucket list. Yeah, well people ask me all the time, you know, why don't you teach your kids how to swim? Like, because I've never taught anyone how to swim. I could kill my own children. Like, I went to a swim coach.
BEN WATERWORTH: There you go, take it.
GIAAN ROONEY: I have no idea what I'm doing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, I mean, the thing that is really fascinating to me about sort of the period in which your career was. You really were kind of in almost like the ends of the golden age of swimming to the new golden age of swimming, I mean, you sort of, you came into the sport with the likes of Susie O'Neil, Kieran Perkins, Daniel Kowalski, you know, people like that. And then you sort of are there when Thorpe's entering, you know, Clem Hackett, you know, Stephanie Rice, Liesl Jones, you know, all these people as well. So you're kind of in a very unique area of swimming history. I mean, to be able to kind of have these people as your teammates. I watched an interview with you that you had done about talking when you made that Commonwealth Games team in 98 about being sort of starstruck with the likes of Kieran and Susie and that sort of stuff. I mean, did you ever imagine that when you started swimming that this was kind of where you were gonna end up with it all?
GIAAN ROONEY: Not at all. I very much fell into the sport of swimming. And, but I look at what you were talking about the names and I've always said that I feel so fortunate once again to be a part of the era of swimming that I was because I was surrounded by my heroes. I made my first Australian team at 15. And so I got to room with Susie O'Neill, who I had a poster on my bedroom wall of, and all of a sudden I'm rooming with my hero, my idol, and got to learn from her and watch how she went about things. And so not only do I feel incredibly fortunate that I had those opportunities with such incredible athletes, but on top of it, I've always probably referred to myself as an above average athlete in a superstar era. And I was tarnished with the same brush, which, you know, I'm a realist. I look at it and I've had some wonderful achievements and the older I get, probably the more proud I am of those achievements. But in the scheme of things, with some of those names that you just mentioned, I was sitting in the middle of the pack. I'm an above average swimmer in a superstar era. And I feel incredibly grateful and fortunate for that. It was a wonderful time to be a part of the Australian swim team. And it really, you know, I can probably say without a doubt that, as I said, I fell into the sport of swimming. It was, it chose me as much as I chose it. And you look back in your life at those sliding doors moments. And that was definitely it for me. I went to my, I learned to swim as a baby, had stroke correction, you know, the whole way through. Grew up on the Gold Coast, so surrounded by water and pools, and it was part of the school curriculum. And I was 11 and I was at my primary school swimming carnival. I happened to do well. And my friend at the time said, oh, you should come and join my swim club. And I said, yeah, that sounds good. I'll ask mum and dad. And so started off at two afternoons a week, loved it so much, begged to go three afternoons a week. And it grew from there. And I used to play netball in the winter, swim in the summer. And then my coach, Dennis Cottrell said, you could do something in the sport of swimming. You could possibly make an Australian swim team. But if you want that, you have to dedicate yourself to the sport now and start winter training and start morning training. And it was a full discussion around our family dinner table about I didn't want to give up my netball. And was that a silly option? Or what was I going to do? And it was actually my dad that said, well, look, the way that I see it, you can always come back to the sport of netball. Netball seems to be a sport that you can even play socially when you're older. So having some time out from the sport of swimming, of netball won't harm anything or change anything. Whereas swimming is a sport that you've got to do when you're young. And if you miss it now, you've got to put the hard work in now. And if you miss that or stuff that up, then you don't get opportunities back again. And so in terms of, I was like, okay, well, let's give it 12 months and see what happens. So I did winter training, I did morning training, I gave up my netball and not that much longer, I made my first Australian team. So it was definitely the right decision at that time.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, which I mean, to kind of that sort of quickness of it, because we hear about all these stories about swimmers starting, you know, competitive like three, four kind of, you know, these ridiculous ages that they're kind of going to it there to kind of, you just sort of pick it up at that point. And what's that like three years later, two, three years later, you're basically making an Australian team.
GIAAN ROONEY: Yeah, it wasn't even that long. And I'll be honest in the fact that I needed that progression to happen quite quickly, because I wasn't particularly naturally talented. I knew I had a work ethic and I knew that I could train hard. But it wasn't actually until I moved into that more competitive realm of swimming that I felt like I wanted to make it a part of my world, if that makes sense. And it wasn't until I made my first open Australian team, which is a complete surprise. I got third at the Commonwealth Games trials in 1998 in the 100 backstroke, and they didn't have to pick me on that team. There was no need for them to make up the team numbers, but they had room. And they thought we'll give a 15 year old some experience and see what happens. And so for me back then, it hadn't even really clipped. I don't know if I was naive or I was immature, but it hadn't really ever entered my mind that I could possibly make a national open team. I made a national open team before I made a Queensland state team. So the progression happened very quickly. And it wasn't until I was in Kuala Lumpur in 98 as part of that Commonwealth Games team that I was like, right, I get it now. This is what I wanna do. I don't ever wanna not be a part of the Australian swim team because this is awesome. And look at these people and look what they're achieving and what they're doing. And I want to do that as well. So I credit that very quick turnaround between applying myself to my sport and actually making an Australian swim team with probably the early success that I had. It was all of a sudden, it was a light bulb moment for me where I was all in. Straight in, all in, whatever I do now, it's all about swimming and training and achieving my dreams.
BEN WATERWORTH: One of the things I saw you post on your Instagram recently when Brisbane won the Olympics, was sort of talking a little bit about how you remember when Sydney got the Olympics. When that moment happened, was there any sort of ambitions within you that like, hey, I wanna compete an Olympics and kind of this is where maybe some of that passion for swimming helped you choose it over netball because obviously swimming being an Olympic sport, netball not an Olympic sport. Did that sort of help that decision as well?
GIAAN ROONEY: Not really. I was too young to be honest back then. It was usually about seven years before Sydney was announced. So it was like 1993 and I was 10 or 11 or something like that. And I just remember thinking, oh well, how cool is it that the Olympics are coming to Australia? And never once did I ever think I would have the opportunity to be a part of that as an athlete, never once. But I distinctly remember that moment and I understood the enormity of an Olympics, not until I was competing there. Did I understand what it meant as an Australian athlete to have the opportunity to compete at Olympics at home? That's a next level again. And I think that's why it brought back so many memories for me with the announcement of Brisbane 2032 in the fact that sport is such a huge part of the Australian culture. Historically, it's ingrained in who we are as a people, I feel, and we've always batted above our weight. And as I said, that swim team that I was a part of at Sydney 2000 was extraordinary because there was so many athletes that probably would have retired earlier if the lure of a home Olympics wasn't in front of them. And we did lose a lot after Sydney, but it goes to show that what they gave us, what those more mature, experienced, wise athletes gave us as the next generation coming through was invaluable. So we had this wonderful, experienced, supportive, amazing team that was part of the Sydney 2000 swimming team. And what I learnt from that team was another jump again of what I wanted to get out of my sport. I understood the passion and the drive and the want to have no regrets like never before. And so again, the enormity of Sydney in 2000 probably didn't hit me until I was there. And, but I certainly remember knowing that it was going to be a big thing. And the closer it got, the more I wanted to be a part of it.
BEN WATERWORTH: I spoke a little bit to Joe about backstroke. When I swam, clearly I went on to great success. Hence why I went on and won all those Olympic medals. I was a backstroker. I liked backstroke. It was always my preferred stroke. Was this one that you just preferred? Was this something that your coach said you're more suited to this kind of? How did the specializing in backstroke come about?
GIAAN ROONEY: I don't think there was any particular push towards backstroke. I think like every kid, I started off doing training in all four strokes and at every swimming carnival, competing in every event on the program. So that meant everything from every stroke, from 50s and 100s, all the way through to 200 IM, and as you got older, the longer distances. And it just kind of became apparent of where you were having more success that you started to focus on there. So I always knew that my freestyle was technically very good. And did like most, I assume as majority of my training in freestyle, but it was backstroke that tended to just, obviously show a little bit more promise at a younger age. And so when I made the Commonwealth Games team, I was still competing in freestyle events, but the 100 back was the one that I made my first team with. So we certainly focused on that. And it held me in great stead. And over the course of my career, I was a backstroke and then I was a freestyler and I came back to backstroke at the end. And I probably have always loved backstroke and freestyle, whereas I can quite honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that I am not a breaststroker or a butterflyer by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the worst thing a coach could do to me would be to give me more than 50 metres of butterfly continuously because I could not cope. Breaststroke, I could make look okay, but I certainly wasn't going anywhere doing it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, yeah. Look, I think I tried butterfly once and sank to the bottom of the pool. Breaststroke, yeah, freestyle, I mean, everyone does it, but no, I don't know. It was just backstroke I just always enjoyed. Maybe I just like going backwards. I'm Tasmanian. That's probably where it comes from. I have no idea. But it's just, I don't know. There's something about it that just always is kind of appealing to me. So I'm always intrigued to find out sort of the backstroke. Because until Tokyo, Australia never won a gold in backstroke, of course. So it was kind of like that hidden stroke that we never seem to...
GIAAN ROONEY: Isn't that amazing? Amazing, yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, why is that? Why do you think that is? Is that was a lesser focus for Australia in the backstroke or?
GIAAN ROONEY: No, I don't think at all. I think it's just, I think that there's just moments in time and we've had some wonderful female backstrokers, you know, without going into it. I'd say Nicole Livingston probably got robbed at her Olympics by athletes that were higher than her on the medal podium that maybe had a bit of an unfair advantage and things like that. So, we've certainly had incredible backstrokers. I just, the stars just for whatever reason didn't align. And I mean, you can even talk about Kayleigh McEwen at these recent Tokyo Olympics as the stars aligned, because if those Tokyo Olympics had been held 12 months earlier, Kayleigh McEwen would not be the Olympic gold medallist over the 100 and 200 back. And so, I mean, you know, we say that one of the quotes I always used to have on the back of my bathroom door was the harder I work, the luckier I get, because I used to hate people saying, oh, you're so lucky, you know, you're travelling the world or you're achieving your dreams. And I was like, yeah, you can get lucky too. Come and get up with me at 4.30 tomorrow morning and dive into an icy cold pool for two and a half hours before you go to school. You can get lucky too. So I wasn't a believer in luck, but I do. I am a big believer in timing and timing of things that happen. And then for whatever reason, those styles just hadn't aligned for female backstrokers up until this year.
BEN WATERWORTH: And now, a spurt in the sport. Are we going to see the next generations of Kayleigh kind of watching this to peak in Brisbane? And maybe we can just dominate like we used to do with the 1500, right? This was our event. So now the 100 and 200 back is Australia's event at the Olympics, right?
GIAAN ROONEY: Well, I think we also need to pay credit to Emily Seabomb, who in Tokyo was her fourth Olympics. I always feel a great affinity with Em because, as I said, I retired in 2006 at the age of 23. And I always said that I feel like someone was looking out for me because if I'd stayed 12 months longer, I would have been beaten by a 14 year old. And that 14 year old in 2007 was Emily Seabomb. So Em has been around for such a long time. She's been our premier backstroker in Australia for so long. And to not only go to her fourth Olympics in Tokyo, but to win an individual bronze medal blows my mind. To show that longevity, to show that consistency, to show the motivation and the ability to train at that level for that length of time blows my mind and has my utmost respect because so few have done it. But that also shows what that has done for the likes of a Kayleigh McEwan, for the likes of a Maddie Wilson, for the likes of Amina Atherton. These women that have almost been in Emily's shadow in the last few years as they've been young and developing, they've had this superhero of the sport to look up to for so long and chase. And you saw that on the medal podium in Tokyo when Kayleigh asked Emily to present her medal to her. Emily Seabomb is a superstar of the sport. And even those that are now beating her still hold her in such high regard. So she plays a very big part in the Kayleigh McEwan success of the world.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which her post-event interview was just incredible to watch when Emily sort of broke down and everything. And then obviously Kayleigh's post-race interview was pretty memorable as well. So I mean, I think you kind of got this rock star mentality mixed with sort of an emotional connection out of backstroke, which really surely the kids are getting involved in.
GIAAN ROONEY: Absolutely, and that goes to show, it can go in a positive or a negative way. I mean, if we talk about superstars that dominate an event particularly, it can go the other way. Like we saw the dominance of Grant Hackett over the 1500. Firstly, Kieran Perkins, who, or Glenn Houseplin, prior to that, who ignited the passions of distance swimming, male distance swimming in Australian swimming. And so all of a sudden you had kids that wanted to do what they did. So they took up the 1500, whereas before it might have been, oh, that's too hard, that's too long. I wanna do the sprint of it. So you had Glenn Houseplin, you had Kieran Perkins, and then you had Grant Hackett come along. And for a while we were worried that there wasn't a lot of depth in men's distance swimming because it was so dominated by the likes of, and Ian thought 200, 400, even up to an 800. And then Grant from a 400, 800, 1500 to say, well, I'm never gonna make an Australian team because I've got these two big guns in front of me when they only take two spots to a world championships or a Commonwealth Games or an Olympics. Why would I try in those events? I'm better off trying in an event that doesn't have that depth or that success to try and get onto the Australian swim team. So it can go either way, but we have seen with the likes of it's just evolution and we all need to enjoy the evolution of the sport to say, right, I've certainly got no regrets. I'm doing everything possibly I can, but now the young guard is coming through and taking over. And in a lot of ways that does go to show that you have inspired the next generation and sometimes it's very hard to take that as an older athlete because you're not ready to relinquish that spot, but you also been part of their success as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, you talk about that age. At 15, you win a Commonwealth Games Gold Medal, which I can imagine when you make that team, as you said, you sort of brought along as, hey, let's bring you along for experience. You can't imagine you're going to leave Malaysia with the gold medal around your neck. I mean, with that obviously comes over a whole sense of other expectations. All of a sudden you are a Commonwealth Champion at 15. I mean, how did you cope with sort of that expectation in the lead up to Sydney and kind of the added pressure that that brought with it?
GIAAN ROONEY: Funnily enough, I was okay with the pressure side of things from a general Australian public. What I really struggled with was the fact that I was still at school. And for me, I guess that I was always a fairly good student, not anything amazing, but a fairly good, solid student. And I enjoyed schoolwork. And my parents also had a rule, they had two rules growing up that I think were great rules in hindsight, didn't probably appreciate them at the time. But two rules in our household with me with my swimming, one was that they would completely support me in any way, shape or form. But the alarm clock that went off in the morning for morning training had to be my alarm clock, not theirs. And then I would go and wake them up and they would take me in turns to take me to the pool. So it always had to be my dream. That was their way of saying, if you decide to sleep in and you don't wanna go to training, that is completely your choice. This has to be your dream and you have to be driving it. And if you're driving it, then we will support in any way, shape or form. And so that was a great rule that they had. And the other one was that if my grades started dropping at school, I had to start training sessions in the pool. And that was to ensure that I always had a backup plan. As much as they were supportive of my dreams, they'd seen so many athletes, heard stories about talented athletes of young age who had not gone on to do things in the sport and therefore had nothing else to fall back on. So school and a good education had to be my backup plan. And so I loved school, but then coming back, I kind of under the radar a little bit at school. Everyone knew I was a good swimmer, things like that. But all of a sudden jumping to the next level of winning a Commonwealth Games Gold Medal and actually winning two, because I got to be part of the four by one medley relay team that also won. So I'm coming back as a 15 year old with two Commonwealth Games Gold Medals. And I came back to school and had missed obviously five weeks of school up until this point. And the school held an assembly for my return. And I had never felt more visible and more awkward for some strange reason in my life than that school assembly. And it didn't help when, you know, here I am, they'd asked me to dress in my Australian track suit and there I was in my Australian track suit with my medals and you know, they'd had balloons and all the rest of it. And my high school principal, God love him, got up and said, you know, we're welcoming home our Commonwealth Games dual gold medallist, Giaan Rooney, and said my name wrong. And so when you're 15, in year 11, and you're already feeling quite overwhelmed with the situation and then in front of the school says your name wrong and the whole school laughed. I had never wanted to crawl under a rock more in my life. And at that point in time, I was like, God, I wish I'd just won silver and that way maybe they wouldn't have thrown me in assembly and maybe. So, yes, so it's funny how you can very quickly be brought back down to earth from a very big high. But once I got school kind of out of the way, and I don't use that term lightly, I had the opportunity to do school over year 11 and 12 over three years and elongated out to concentrate on my swimming. But if I had done that, then the third year would have been the year of Sydney 2000 Olympics. So I didn't want to do that. I needed school to be done so that I could concentrate on swimming in the Olympics. And a lot happened in that time. And as it turned out, you know, my swimming probably wasn't at the greatest level it was at Sydney 2000. And then I came into my own again the following year in 2001. So just the way that things work, but yes, very, very strange at the age of 15 to go, okay, wow, this is awesome. And then, okay, this is quite awkward as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you go back to your high school after Sydney, Athens, and was he still there? Did he learn how to say your name? He might have watched TV by then, perhaps, I don't know.
GIAAN ROONEY: As I said, I'm always very aware that my name is very unusual, very hard to say, even harder to spell. And I do find that people do trip over it more often than not. It's probably only since I made a name for myself in assuming that people know how to say it. But I always used to say, think of Giaan Rooney, Versace, and take off the I. It was the only way that I could really explain to people how to remember it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, that works. That's a good way of selling it.
GIAAN ROONEY: Yeah, exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: So when it came to Sydney, you mentioned before about kind of, I guess, the experience of that. I mean, we could fill a whole episode up what I'm no doubt like as a 17 year old at your first Olympics in your home country, everything along those lines. But to be part of that team as well, I mean, how do you reflect now and looking back on just what that was like as an athlete to be at a home Olympics and everything that was experienced in that magical week of swimming in the first week of the Sydney Games?
GIAAN ROONEY: Yeah, it was extraordinary. I think for me, I feel in hindsight quite fortunate that Sydney was my first Olympics because I didn't understand the extra hype with the part of Sydney as opposed to a lead up to any Olympics. There is always hype in the lead up to an Olympics, but I now know there was another layer of hype and excitement and for some athletes pressure that was associated with the home Olympics. And so at 17, I was just along for the ride and I was so grateful. I was in a time in my life where I could be an athlete at a home Olympics. And as I said, I had the likes of Haley Lewis that made a comeback just so she could compete in Sydney, had retired from the sport. And if the lure of a home games wasn't there, she wouldn't have made a comeback.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did Shane Gould as well try and qualify for a memory?
GIAAN ROONEY: I think Shane swam at the trials. I don't know if there was an onus to make the team, but she was still so fit and amazing that she competed at the trials just to say that she could compete at the Australian Championships, which doubled at the Olympic trials, you know? I almost put Shane Gould and Susie O'Neill in the same box at the moment because Susie could possibly have a red hot crack at making the Australian swim team still to this day. She's kind of put her interest in triathlon at the moment, but she's almost as fit as she was as the day she swam for Australia. So, incredible athletes, those two. And yeah, so you're right. There was so much hype and so much excitement and so much pressure at the trials themselves because everyone wanted to be on that team. And I just look at it, as I said, as I was incredibly fortunate that I was swimming at a good level at that time and that I was a part of it.
BEN WATERWORTH: I rewatched before this interview, the four by 200 relay silver medal and that, but what I love about that event and the memories it brings back is just that crowd that you can hear. I mean, Australia leads for the majority of that race. And then as soon as the US takes the lead, you kind of just hear, oh, like it kind of goes down, but it's still, I can, like, did you ever experience anything like that outside of Sydney in your career? Because well, it was about 18, 20,000 people, wasn't it, in the stadium? So it must have been crazy.
GIAAN ROONEY: Yeah, it was extraordinary. And especially for me, I was an athlete that as it developed throughout my career, but even in KL as a 15 year old, I very quickly realised that the bigger the meat, the better I swam. So the more atmosphere, the more pressure, the more excitement, the better I performed. And sometimes I actually had to actively work at getting nervous and excited to make myself feel those feelings because I knew I needed it to perform. Sydney was extraordinary because no one needed to work at those excitement levels. They were, not only were they, were we getting it from the crowd and that so many of that, so many members of that crowd were in fact Australian and our family and friends. But on top of it, we were on a roll. Like it started off, if anyone cast their mind back to the swimming at the Sydney Olympics, the first night was Ian Thornt winning the 400 freestyle and then backing up and the boys winning the four by one freestyle relay when the Americans said, we're gonna smash you like guitars. So that ignited not only the Australian swim team, but the crowd as well. So all of a sudden it was a domino effect of, okay, the swim team is in form, great things are happening in the pool, crowd wants to be a part of that atmosphere, and the swimmers want to continue that momentum. You're just watching your teammates perform unbelievably, you wanna be a part of that and have that feeling as well. And so it was in terms, it was an all round awesome experience. And everyone that I speak to still speaks about the Olympics, whether they were a volunteer, whether they were a spectator, whether they were an athlete, whether they were a coach as some of the most memorable moments of their lives.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is there an added pressure on an Australian swim team at an Olympics? Because it really does set the tone, doesn't it? For generally Australia's performance at an Olympic Games. Have a successful week and then the second week, it's kind of bonus. And we obviously saw in Tokyo the huge success that the Dolphins had and then the ultimate success the whole team had. But do you feel that pressure as a swim team in general? Like, hey, we've gotta kick this off, otherwise Australia might not have the Olympics that people are expecting.
GIAAN ROONEY: Probably not when you're in it. I definitely do see that now, that I'm in the world of media and that I'm talking about it. I understand that progression. Whereas when you're in it, you're doing your job and you're doing it the best of your ability. And you know that you're there to do a job and focus on your performances. And you try to block out that exterior noise and expectation. But what I will say is that you certainly knew and understood and were aware of the fact that historically, we as Australians have always batted above our weight in the pool. We always had performed really well at an Olympic level in the pool. And there was that usually granted expectation that we were going to continue to be that successful in the pool of the first week of the Olympics. And so you never, once again, you were blocking out as much exterior noise as you possibly could, but you were certainly aware of that expectation that to me as in the country of Australia at that level. So that can either play as a positive or a negative, depending on what type of athlete you are. And for most of us, we had this element of being incredibly grateful to be there and not wanting to walk away from an Olympic experience with any regrets. So just because you made an Olympic team and become an Olympian, you also certainly wanted to put your best performances up at an Olympics and do it where it counts. So it was, as I said, there was an awareness, but maybe not a certain, I think the papers and the media always made the expectation larger than what the athletes felt themselves because we already had the expectation on ourselves to perform.
BEN WATERWORTH: A year later in Vukowoka, the world championships, which I believe is 20 years ago now, that's just absolutely insane. But I remember the hype around those world championships and how big of a deal it was, kind of just everything and the success that Australia had. But you were involved in two moments, a very high and a very low, obviously winning gold in the 200 freestyle. I mean, did you go into that thinking it was possible to come out of that, you know, in a stroke that people maybe didn't, weren't overly familiar with you, that you were, you know, swimming in that. I mean, what was that like to be a world champion in 200 freestyle in 2001?
GIAAN ROONEY: It was, it was, it's one of my career highlights because I don't think others, I had obviously been a part of that 4x2 relay the year before at Sydney 2000, but I don't think anyone thought of me as an individual swimmer in that 200 free, apart from myself and my coach, Dennis Cottrell. And the reason that I knew that it was possible for me to swim a great 200 freestyle was because I was in a squad with majority distance men. I swam with Grant, trained with Grant Hackett. Daniel Kowalski was part of our squad. There was the owners, if you like, on the training sessions that we were training with were middle distance to distance freestyle training programs. So for me, I knew that I was probably doing more work than the majority of the women that I was training with just by nature of the base. That was what my squad was set up for and designed for and where its strengths were. So it's not like there was any female backstroke sessions going up on the board. This was a session of the day. And I was, for the most part of my career, one of the only females in the lead squad. And so I had to keep up with the slowest guy. Otherwise, I wasn't keeping up. And that played a lot into my confidence and my motivation of getting up on the blocks on race day and being able to say, I deserve to win this because I've done more work than any of you. And that's, you know, that was, it's funny because I'm not a competitive person in many other things in my life at all, especially since I've retired, but I was an incredibly competitive athlete, incredibly competitive. And, you know, every time that they used to call my name up behind the blocks and the announcer would say, you know, in lane four representing Australia, Giaan Rooney, and I would have this big smile on my face and I'd wave at the crowd like a cheerleader. And inside my head, I was saying, get the hell out of my way, bitches. Probably a worse superlative than that, but get the hell out of my way. I've done more work than you. I deserve this more. And that was my way of telling myself that I deserved it. I needed to believe that I deserved it. I needed to have the confidence that I could win this race. And when I talk about timing before and the stars aligning, it all came to a head for me in Fukuoka. That 200 freestyle was one of those magical races where athletes talk about the fact that when you're on form and when the race happens and the perfect race unfolds, it doesn't hurt. You almost feel invincible in a way and you find another level. And that was me in that 200 freestyle final. But hilariously, as you quickly touched on in the question, the night before the 200 free individual event started was a four by two freestyle relay. And many Australians remember this moment. The amount of people that come up and say, oh, I was watching when that four by two debacle happened. And to remind people, you know, I swam the anchor leg of the four by two in Fukuoka, the World Championships with three extraordinary women in Patria Thomas, Linda McKenzie and Elka Graham at that stage, Elka Whalen now. And we won that four by two. We broke the championship record. And then at the end, as I said, I was the anchor leg. And I'll never forget it, but at the time, a Japanese, I was in the water and I was hugging the girls and we were laughing and crying and screaming. And a Japanese cameraman, I overheard saying, you know, to the other girls, you jump in the water. I get great pictures. And not thinking, the girls jumped in the water to celebrate with me. And they had only brought this rule in the year prior, I think after Sydney Olympics, that you have to wait until all the teams had finished their race or every athlete had finished their swim before you could do anything to, you know, upset the pool, if you like, move the water in the pool. And so, unbeknownst to the girls, Lane 8 still hadn't finished racing. And so therefore, we were disqualified, but we had no idea why we were being disqualified. We knew our changeovers were safe. And the footage of us doing a live pullback interview to Australia and then seeing DQ come up against our names up on the big scoreboard clock behind us and going, hang on a second, what? And then the Americans got disqualified as well in that race. And so third place ended up winning. And it wasn't until we were in the warm down pool that we actually found out what we had done wrong and why we were disqualified. So as it turns out, we still needed to do drug testing. We still did media and press conferences. We ended up getting to bed at about midnight or one o'clock or whatever it was. And then Elka and I had to get up the next morning and assume the heights of the individual 200 freestyle. So as you said, incredible low in a way to an incredible high. But for me, it was also amazing to be a part of that because every other team rallied around the Australian team then. And we had girls from other teams coming in. In our eyes, you won that event. You are the world champions. And it very much, even though we didn't have a medal hanging around our neck, we still considered ourselves the winners of that event. And I think a lot of people still do consider us the winners of that event. I think the only thing that annoyed us is that our championship record didn't stand because it's not like we broke or did anything to improve our time. So we feel like the championship record still should have stood, even though we got disqualified. But that 203, I knew that in that relay, I felt great. And so I knew that I just had to keep replicating that performance. And I knew in the final of the individual event that I didn't have the speed to go out with the other girls over the first 100, but I knew that I had my strength lay in that last 50 metres, if you like that last 60, 50 metres. So if I was within a body length at the third turn, I knew I was gonna win it. I basically knew that I couldn't be beaten over that final 50. And then I was gonna find another level from my distance training. And that's exactly how the race played out. And I almost felt like I was gaining strength coming home that final 50. And that's a wonderful feeling to feel like as an athlete. And that moment sustained me for years to come because trying to emulate that and wanting to feel that feeling again is almost one of the greatest addictions on the planet.
BEN WATERWORTH: Do you think there was some sneaky tactics involved there by the Japanese cameraman considering that Japan ended up with more bronze in that event after you and the Americans got... Was this just like a, hey, hey, here's some tactics right now. We can get a medal here if we... Let's tell them to jump in the pool.
GIAAN ROONEY: Wouldn't it be? No, I certainly don't think there was any, any sneaky tactics going on. I think it was just, you know, we were all feeling euphoric in the moment. And you know, clarity wasn't with us at that point in time because it was, we were just so proud of one another and we all just wanted to celebrate together. And yeah, in that moment, we did the wrong thing.
BEN WATERWORTH: In Athens, you're a part of the four by one medley team that wins the gold world record. The thing that I always remember about Athens though, in terms of the swimming is that growing up, watching swimming, the focus is all about the men. It was all about, you know, the Hacketts, the Clems, the Thorpes, the Perkins. Obviously, you know, you had Susie and Lisa and all that sort of stuff. But from Athens onwards to me, that's kind of the switching point that really it's now all been about the women and how strong the Australian women swim team is. Obviously, Betraya came through and did so well in Athens and finally got all those gold medals that she had deserved, of course. You know, Alice did so well as well. And then, you know, we get Beijing, we get Stephanie, you know, you kind of lead that sort of with Libby and kind of going forward to the success we've just had at Tokyo. Do you see that as like a turning point for women swimming in this country to get out of the shadow of the men and really hold, I guess, the mantle that they've held ever since Athens?
GIAAN ROONEY: It's an interesting question because I had never really thought about it until you just said it. I'll be completely honest. And that's for a number of reasons. One is the fact that we probably are in the media a lot to talk about the men's team and the women's team. But when you're in it, we were the Australian swim team and we never really thought about being a men's team or a women's team. You know, I talk about the fact that for the most part, majority of my career, especially on the Gold Coast, I had a predominantly male squad around me. And so I never felt like it was men versus women or the women's team wasn't doing as well as the men's team. It just felt like we were being successful as the Australian swim team. And I think Athens probably, again, culminated in a time where we'd had the success of Sydney, we'd had success at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games in the year leading up to Athens. And then the stars aligned for many athletes once again in Athens. For me, the most amazing female out of Athens, she did one Olympics. And so she's like the Shane Gould of the modern era is Jodie Henry. And Jodie, three gold medals out of Athens, including the 100 freestyle and she just had no idea how good she was. I always used to refer to Jodie as a space cadet and I love her dearly, but that was because she actually had no awareness of her own abilities and her own amazingness. And, you know, so one Olympics, three gold medals. And yeah, pretty happy with that. What's next? Yeah, exactly right. And, you know, but I, Athens was again an extraordinary Olympics from a very different point of what I'd experienced in Sydney in the fact that, you know, we're going to Athens and we're hearing stories like there's not going to be enough time or enough money left for there to be a roof on the pool. So it will be the first international event we've had or that I had really thought about or competed in that was going to be an open air venue. We, I'll never forget the first day we rocked up to the competition pool in Athens and we went to get off the bus with the Australian Swim team, our first arrival on pool deck and we got onto pool deck and all the Greek officials were smoking on pool deck. And about 70% of the Australian Swim team is asthmatic. So they bundled us all back onto the bus and they all had to go and have these discussions about you can't smoke on pool deck. We're bringing athletes on and they were like, what do you mean we can't smoke on pool deck? It's, there's an open air. It's fine. And they're like, no, you can't. So we got on the bus and we sat on the bus for about half an hour, 40 minutes while they cleared the smokers and the smoke. And then we came out again and oh, we went with it. There were a heap of stories out of Athens that were just bizarre to say the least. But, you know, again, I didn't have the greatest meet from an individual point of view, but I got this magical moment of being part of this four by one medley relay team that was the final event of the swimming program at the Athens Olympics. And I tell this story of almost being an out of body experience because when we're sitting in the marshalling area as that relay and I'm sharing this moment with Petria Thomas, who, as you said, had an incredible Olympics in Athens, Jody Henry, who already has two gold medals in the bag before this event, and Liesl Jones, who had by her own admission had an average Olympics in Athens and hadn't achieved what she wanted to, but was here in the final of the four by one medley relay. And you know, I had an out of body experience in the marshalling areas. We're watching on the screen in the marshalling area, watching Grant Hackett win his, in the process of winning his second consecutive 1500 title, and we all knew he'd been incredibly ill at that point in time. And so gaining inspiration from that, but also I looked around the room and I realised that we were the only team that were preparing as a team. Every other country was preparing as a team of individuals. There might be one girl off stretching in the corner, another talking to her out in the corridor, talking to her coach, another with headphones on. And here we were, the four girls from Australia, not needing to talk tactics, not needing to pump each other up, not needing to get ourselves excited about the moment, but having complete and utter faith that each member of that team was going to do their job to the best of their ability. And we had innate faith that that was going to happen. So we were having these completely random discussions about what we were going to eat when we got to the dining hall that night. And Lisa was like, I'm only going to eat ice cream because I haven't had one in two weeks. And Petria, all she wanted to do was her fiance at that stage. And Jodie was like, I don't know what colour to paint my nails. I've only brought green and gold with me. Like random conversations before an Olympic final. And it was a wonderful moment to be a part of because as I said, we just felt like such a united team. And we went out there and every member did do their job. I led off with a backstroke leg and swam personal best time in Australian record to lead off that team. And that was far better than any of my individual performances that I've had in Athens. And that goes to show why Australians, particularly at that relay level, do hit almost another gear because it means so much to us.
BEN WATERWORTH: You leave Athens, though, Giaan, as an Olympic gold medallist, something that can never be taken away from you. Obviously, you earn that as part of a team so you can share it with your teammates. Lisa will probably get her ice cream. Jodie's painting her nails in different colours. You know, Petra's fiance is getting the phone call. But how do you kind of reflect on that now and able to, you know, forever have that moniker that you are an Olympic gold medallist?
GIAAN ROONEY: It's amazing that at the time, it was incredible and you know, I will never forget standing on that medal podium with a gold medal around my neck and a wreath on my head and, you know, singing the national anthem with those women. It's the reason why still to this day, every time I hear the national anthem, I sing proudly, I sing loudly, I sing badly, but it takes me back to those moments so quickly. And the hair stand up on the back of my neck and I get goosebumps and I get quite emotional because it was those moments that, again, I say that I was a complete addict in the sport of swimming to those moments. I was completely addicted to feeling that feeling of achievement, that my hard work had paid off, that it was worth it, that I deserved to be having those moments because I'd worked so hard for them. And somehow every time I hear the National Anthem, all of that becomes a part of hearing that song. And it's not necessarily the words or anything like that. It's just the fact that it takes me back to those moments. And I've always said that the older I get, the prouder I become because I think when you're in it, when you're an elite athlete in that world of elite sport, you don't take stock of your achievements when you're in it. It's always about chasing the next high, that next addictive moment. You want to prove that it's not a fluke or a one-off or that you're, you want to prove that you're consistent and more than anything, you want to feel that feeling again and know that I've done it once, I want it, I want it again. So it wasn't until, funnily enough, it's my retirement story. It's the reason why six months out of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, I was training and doing laps and for some reason I had this light bulb moment where I realised I was proud of myself and proud of my achievements and I had never thought about it up until that point in time. I had never thought about the fact that I was proud of myself and I also knew in that moment that if I was proud of myself and I didn't feel like another medal or another experience was going to change that, then maybe I had also in that moment lost that minute bit of competitiveness, that tiger attitude that is required to compete in a sport that is won and lost sometimes by a hundredth of a second. So a lot happened in that moment. But for me, my Olympic moments means so much to me because there are so few of us as Australian Olympians. There's even less that are Olympic gold medallists. And as I said, the older I become, the prouder I become of that fact and those moments. And I always correct people, a lot of people on a bio when I'm talking or put on their say, you know, ex Olympian or former Olympian, and I always correct it. And it's not out of an arrogance thing. It is that you are never a former Olympian. You are never an ex Olympian. You are always an Olympian. And I think that in those words, it's what makes it so powerful, you can be a former world record holder, you can be a former world champion, you can never be a former Olympian. And that for me, as I said, it just makes it so, so powerful. And, you know, is the reason that once my kids get a little bit older, I can't wait for them to understand that, you know, mum went to the Olympics and mum was an Olympian.
BEN WATERWORTH: And mum was on a stamp. Do you still have any of your stamps from 2004 that you can show them?
GIAAN ROONEY: I think I do. I actually think they're at my parents' house, though, because that goes into it. Unfortunately, that's the problem is that, you know, when you don't take stock of your achievements while you're in it, all of a sudden, all those pieces of memorabilia and everything aren't as important as they should be. And so then you get to my age, you start going, where is that? And wonder where that is? And do I still have that? And so, yes, a lot of it is in suitcases at my poor parents' house in storage.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I hope the medals aren't, Giaan. I mean, we always like to find out what you do with your medals. I mean, do you have them on display? Is there kind of a sock drawer? Kind of like, what do you do with them?
GIAAN ROONEY: It's actually quite funny. My two Olympic silver out of Sydney are in the safe. And then my Athens gold medal is also in the safe for the most part of its life. But it's not in the case that it came in. Most people will see that at the Olympics, you get a beautiful case that your medal comes in to keep it safe. Whereas the I don't know if it was just mine or if it was across the board in Athens, but the Athens case actually slid over the top like a sleeve. It slid over the top of them of the medal. And the problem is with that is that I now know it's the the goddess Nike, who is on the front of the Athens medal. And when you slide the case over her, it actually is too tight to fit and it scratches her nipples off or her boobs off.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, okay.
GIAAN ROONEY: On her step. So I don't keep it in the case that it comes with. I don't know where the case is, to be completely honest. So she's in a sunglass case and she's looking a little worse for wear, because not only now that she has two shiny spots on her chest, she's also a little bit rusty from being close to chlorine. And the ribbon is looking a little bit worse for wear as well. But I'm also too scared to ever get her cleaned, because I feel like who knows what could happen.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I have to say one thing that coming into this interview, I never thought we'd hear the sentence scratching her nipples off. So I'll tick that off the Off The Podium bucket list of something we've achieved today.
GIAAN ROONEY: Correct. I'm happy to bring that to you.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're creating first on this show today. I want to talk a little bit about sort of post-swimming and kind of the amazing stuff you achieve. But one question, you obviously retire after Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. I've got to ask one question. You won the gold in that 50 metre event, right? Like, is that still stick with you? Like, you won that race, surely?
GIAAN ROONEY: Oh, this was the hardest moment in my career. It was the hardest moment in my career. And do you know what? All these years later, I still don't really know what to think about it. Because for those who don't remember, I guess the first thing to say is I knew I was retiring after those Commonwealth Games. I knew that that was going to be my final ever meet, but no one else knew that. It was only my family that knew that. So even my coach didn't know Ian Pope at the time. I hadn't told him that that was. And that was because I didn't want any talk about it. I didn't want it to be a different preparation to any other. I didn't want to have a different focus or a mindset going into it. I wanted to walk away from my sport at the top of my game. I wanted to walk away on my terms when I was ready, without any regrets, at the top of my game. And so I was the world champion from the previous year in the 50-back stroke, funnily enough, in Montreal in 2005. And so my focus was on that 50-back more than anything else at those Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, where I was living at the time and where a majority of my swimming career had been. And so it almost felt like to me, I was preparing for a home competition again, which I loved. And I thought that it was the perfect setting to say goodbye to my sport. And it was so difficult because I had felt, I had felt, you know, that I'd put everything into those last six months of training. I had left no stone unturned at that point in time because I wanted, as I said, I wanted to go out on the top of my game one last time. And so the 50 back, I wasn't feeling brilliant in taper, and I wasn't feeling brilliant even in the heat for that 50 back. But I had talked myself into the fact that I was going to win this, and I was going to give my best performance on the day. And I felt like I won it. I touched the wall, and you usually have a feeling as an athlete, and I felt like I had won it. And my recollection of that moment is that I looked up at the scoreboard, and I swear to this day that I saw my name come up first for the briefest of moments, and then it swapped, and I lost it by 100th of a second. And, as I said, at the time, I absolutely felt like I was robbed. I could not stop looking at the scoreboard because I was just saying, change back. I saw you in the right way. Change back. You're going to change back. And, you know, again, this is my final race. This can't be happening. I felt robbed. And then, you know, I know that it was seen as a very different experience from anywhere else because everyone else saw that I hadn't congratulated Sophie Eddington, who is my Australian teammate who had won that 50, as history will show. And I hadn't congratulated her. I hadn't smiled. For the first time ever, I even didn't do a post-race interview with Nicole Livingston because I wasn't ready to share the fact that, you know, the scoreboard was showing that I lost. I didn't feel like I had lost at that, and I couldn't explain it or put it into words. With the enormity of the situation, if that was my final race, all of those things, I couldn't compute in my brain. And so all of a sudden, to kind of throw fuel in the fire, I was also branded a sore loser and with bad sportsmanship. And it was probably that component that was the hardest pill to swallow because I don't ever feel that I was in any other race, a sore loser or a bad sports person. I have the utmost respect for my competitors because I know how much work has gone into them beating me because I know how much work I had done. So I have that utmost respect, but in that point in time, I was absolutely gutted and I had no answers. I had no, I couldn't compute it, as I said, in my brain. I couldn't make sense of it all. And at that stage, or we don't use video footage in sports, the video footage showed that I did touch first. And yet I think today, tonight ran a whole story on the fact that I won that 50 yet it didn't show, my touch pad must have failed or whatever it was. And, but you know, unfortunately, whatever, for whatever reason, that was how it was meant to play out. And I have reconciled that in my life now, but at the time it was so difficult to say, that's the ending that I'm going to end on. Cause that was not meant to be the final chapter in this swimming book. And so, yeah, so it took me a long time and I considered going another 12 months because the world championships in 2007 were going to be in Melbourne again. And I thought, right, maybe I need another shot, you know, at finishing the way that I want to finish. But I also knew mentally that I'd made the decision and that I was done and that I was ready for whatever happened after swimming. And so after all those years, and after all those moments, it is still a little bit of a shame that that was the one that I finished on. But as I said, for whatever reason, that's the way it was meant to play out.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. And then Torval and Dean happened and then that career didn't happen, but then the media happened. So that kind of, I mean, we mentioned Joanna Griggs, of course, before, but I mean, I kind of see lots of parallels in your careers because sort of obviously, you know, Joanna has to retire from swimming and go straight into the media. You're kind of on a similar pathway there, worked for years with Channel 9, then obviously with Channel 7. You mentioned before about how people talk to you about, you get to see the world, you get to travel, you know, what a great sort of career, but you kind of did get to add to that when you did a lot of travel programs. You got to do getaway, you got to do postcards. I mean, is that slightly easier than travelling the world and having to get up at five in the morning every single morning while you're around the world?
GIAAN ROONEY: Absolutely, I was so fortunate that as I said, it also, you know, we talk a lot about athletes now and how difficult the transition is into real life outside of sport. And it's the reason because it is, you know, anyone who says that at that level, oh, it's just a sport has no idea because when you're in it at that level, your sport is your whole life. It is every, not only waking moment, it's every sleeping moment that goes into you getting the best out of yourself at the next training session, not the next competition, next training session, because particularly in a sport like swimming, that as I said, is won and lost by a hundredth of a second in some cases, the difference between you not performing at one training session could be the difference between you losing on race day at the competition. So it is all encompassing when you're in it. And then all of a sudden, when you're not in it, you almost don't know how to exist in real life. You've got no normal person experience in real life. You've got, no, I had never had a job. I had never had a resume. I had never had any experience working in an office. I'd never had a part-time job. I had no other experience in my life except school and swimming. And even to the point of exercise, most elite athletes have no idea what a healthy exercise regime is after they retire from their sport. I was doing Pilates five times a week, sometimes six times a week until the instructor finally said, do you realise there's no Pilates at the Olympics? You don't need to be here that often. And it's because we're having all of these experiences later in life compared to most people. Yet here I was, I was 23, I retired from the all-encompassing elite sport and walked straight into Channel 9. And as you said, was doing shows like Get Away and Wide World of Sports and working on swimming coverage and Olympic coverage. And it was unbelievable because not only did I have, I mentioned, you know, when I was swimming that I was a big meat swimmer and that I needed that pressure to perform. I had that exact same feeling whenever I got in front of a TV camera, particularly doing something live. You've got one shot, there's no other options. You've got to get it right. And it's got to happen now. And that feeling that had made me so successful in the sport of swimming was all of a sudden being presented to me in this new world of media. And so the parallels were there. I felt challenged in my job. I felt like I could be good at this because of those parallels. And on top of it, I didn't have to get up for the most part at 4.30 and dive into a freezing cold pool. So I felt like I had lots of positives there. Had no responsibilities, didn't have a partner or anything else in my life. So I was like, I am free to roam the world and do whatever I want to. And was challenging myself in this new world. And I loved it. And so I'm incredibly grateful that, it was a time again, where I could walk out of sport into another career and transition so well. And the experiences that I've had as part of TV land have been extraordinary. And again, so grateful for it. Because once again, I have found something that challenges me and that I love doing. And I've always said, if I could have kept doing the part of swimming that I loved, which was racing week in, week out, like a net baller or a footballer or things like that, then I'd probably still be 38 trying to make this transition team.
BEN WATERWORTH: And you should be on it too. Let's be honest, come on.
GIAAN ROONEY: Certainly have to get back into training mode. But all of a sudden, I was being given these incredible experiences without having to do that level of work. So it was and has been extraordinary.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, before we wrap it up with our final set of questions, Giaan, just a couple of quick ones I want to touch on. Now, this is sort of more of a tie into another show, one of our sister shows. You worked on Get Away. Did you work with Ben Dark? And if you did, do you know where Ben Dark is today? Because this guy has just gone off the map. We've tried to find him for one of our shows. We don't know where he is. Like, what happened to Ben Dark?
GIAAN ROONEY: I think that's a big question that so many are asking. But I never got to work with Ben, but I got to, I was on the show at the same time. And that's what's very bizarre in the fact that you can be on a show with someone, but never actually work with them. And so I never really crossed paths with Ben. He has so many stories though, because all the crew that you work with have worked with all the other presenters as well. And the stories they would tell about Ben Dark are just legendary. And I think probably the biggest reason why we can't find Ben is that he has never been one for social media or for any, he's the type that can happily disappear without any ego attached. It's not like he needed TV to feed his ego. So once the TV stopped calling, he was like, right, well, see you, I'm out of here then.
BEN WATERWORTH: And who knows?
GIAAN ROONEY: I have no idea where he is and I don't know if many people do. And I think that's exactly the way that Ben Dark likes it.
BEN WATERWORTH: He likes it, yes. He's the Dale Begg Smith of Australian television. He comes out when he needs to be seen.
GIAAN ROONEY: What a great analogy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly right. More people need to use it. We use doing a Brad B. Why can't we use doing a Dale? I mean, it's kind of, I like it. Come when needed, peak when needed and then just go back into obscurity. That's the way it should be, right?
GIAAN ROONEY: Okay, I'm gonna pull that out when I can.
BEN WATERWORTH: You can use it, use it for free. Absolutely.
GIAAN ROONEY: I'm gonna borrow that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Thank you. The other one that also too, you did the Australian Grand Prix Celebrity Challenge back in 2011. Now I'm a massive F1 fan. I was at that race. What was that experience like? Getting to race other celebrities around Albert Park.
GIAAN ROONEY: Can I tell you that this is a hilarious story? It was one of the best weeks of my life because you do a week of training before the Celebrity Grand Prix, because you basically do the defensive driving course. You have to pass that so that you can compete. You are, basically they're making sure that you are safe because you have the same risks, amazingly, as the actual proper drivers that are out there, the professional drivers, but you don't have the experience. So they need to make sure that you're not going to kill yourself or kill someone else in the process. But I loved it. I come from a father who is a rev head. My dad Bruce has always loved cars. My grandfather owned a service station in Brisbane growing up. So cars and that world has always been a big part of my life. I had always considered myself a good driver. My dad had taught me to drive when I was very young. And it was always a thing in our family that you needed to be a good driver. And so I was in my element. I loved that week, loved putting on my race suit, loved putting on my balaclava. And hilariously, I qualified 10th. So we have qualifications just like the proper drivers. And I qualified 10th after I got taken out by someone, started 10th on the grid, worked my way up through the field. And on the final corner, I was in fifth position behind Shannon Eckstein and an incredible surf nuff saver. And oh my gosh, I'm trying to think of his name, Brian McFadden. Brian McFadden, the incredible Irish singer who had spent a lot of time in Australia. And these two boys were, I didn't know it at the time, but they were fighting it out for third position. And we came around to the final turn and they were fighting it out. And I knew that they both gone into that final turn too fast. So I just sat back and I let them go wide and I snuck in on the inside, put my foot down and managed to sneak over the line in third position. So I'm on the podium. And I came back and I've flown my dad down to Melbourne and my fiance Sam was there as well. And I came back to the VIP area and my dad just had tears streaming down his face. And I said, what's wrong, dad? He said, that's the most proud I've ever been of you.
BEN WATERWORTH: Olympic gold medal, who cares about that? You got third at the Grand Prix.
GIAAN ROONEY: You just had the drive of your life and came third at the Celebrity Grand Prix. That's the most proud I've been of you.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, you did a Bradbury, you did a Bradbury. Everyone fell over you through, that's great. Wow, that's fantastic, gee. Thanks dad, thanks for that one. And just finally, you gave some great coverage during the Commonwealth Games in the swimming with Baz and Thorpey. And then obviously you were meant to be there for Tokyo, but obviously with the restrictions and all that sort of stuff. So I mean, how do you find that the expert punditry when it comes to the swimming side of things? Because we talked to Joe a lot about sort of how great it was during Tokyo and how insightful Ian Thorpe is. Like, holy crap, I don't know if I've ever learned as much from an expert commentary as I did for Ian Thorpe. But do you enjoy that side of things now, kind of being sort of back involved in the sport, but on the other side of the fence?
GIAAN ROONEY: I do, I find it incredibly difficult though, which a lot of people don't realise. And the reason that I find it so difficult is because not only, as I said before, swimming is a sport that you get your chance in the limelight once or twice a year, if you're lucky at the Australian Championships and the major international of the year. And unlike a lot of sports that compete every weekend, swimmers don't get the chance to tell their stories or what they've been through, or to have a public profile almost outside of those two major events. And so there is a huge responsibility that I feel as part of the commentary team to be the one that tells those athletes stories correctly and to make sure that the general public know the challenges that they face leading up to that moment so that they just don't see the success at the end or the result at the end. It's all about what it has taken to get to that point and to achieve that. And so I almost feel like a proud mum. And that's again showing my age, but watching the athletes these days, I feel such, I almost get more nervous for them than I ever did for myself because I understand properly what has gone into that moment for them. And I want it for them so badly, knowing what they've been through and knowing what they've overcome and knowing the work that they've done. I want it so badly for them. And therefore, I feel a huge responsibility to get their moment right for them and to tell the story correctly and to get their facts right and to make sure that I'm doing them justice. Because for a lot of the time, they, people know their stories through us more than they know their stories through the athlete. And that is the correct job of media to make sure that you are getting those stories right. And so, as I said, I get more emotional now watching the athletes than I ever did when I was in it because I properly understand the enormity of those occasions watching it these days.
BEN WATERWORTH: And how great is Basel? Do you have any good Basel stories you can share with us from Gold Coast or any other ones?
GIAAN ROONEY: So many amazing stories about Basel. I think Basel is extraordinary. And, you know, I almost liken Basel's Emplice and Joe Griggs. I feel like they could be brother and sister because they have this energy. They have this, they walk into a room. Not only are they physically impressive, they're both tall and got presence and where, but they also, they have this liveliness about them. They have this almost excitement and joy in everything that they do. And it's an honour and a privilege to work alongside them and to watch them do what they do because they're so good at it. And the amount of work that, particularly for a Basel, and it is for a caller of any sport. I mean, it's much easier for me to be expert commentator when I had been there and done that. So I intimately know what I'm talking about. Whereas for a caller of a sport like Basel is, he's never swum to any level. He doesn't understand the intricacies of swimming. He has had to learn all that from scratch when he finds out for the first time that he's got to be calling the sport of swimming. And so the amount of work and prep that goes into those moments, it might seem like a lot of it is off the cuff. And it has to be because you don't know who's gonna win a race or someone that's gonna come from nowhere. But he has planned for nearly every possible outcome at the end of that race of what could happen and what line he is going to pull out to finish that race and that moment for that athlete. Because let's face it, you win Olympic Gold Medal, like we just saw in Tokyo, and that footage of you finishing the race and the caller's voice over the top of it is there for the rest of history. So there's a huge responsibility and we all feel it. And I know none more than Basil about getting that moment and what comes out of his mouth at that moment, perfectly correct for that athlete. So hats off, huge respect. I'm a massive fan.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which we talked to Joe about it is that, yeah, I'm sure a lot of people now know Basil for his swimming and AFL commentary, but to me, he's always the guy who called Stephen Bradbury winning the gold. He's the voice. You always hear it whenever you see that footage. And that just to me is where I first, I think came across Basil back in the day. So always lives with me. And we should correct ourselves. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Mayor Basil, Lord Mayor Basil. Yes, sorry.
GIAAN ROONEY: Lord Mayor of Perth.
BEN WATERWORTH: Lord Mayor of Perth. Basil Zemplas. Yes, we've got to kind of establish that. Now Giaan, we wrap up all our interviews as a series of fun, sort of get to know you questions. As we always mentioned, these were based on a questionnaire that the Team Canada website did ahead of Rio and Pyeongchang for their athletes. Bit of fun, gonna learn a bit more about you. And as always, there is a drawing element. If you want to add some homework, you're allowed to. Only one athlete has done it. So I mean, you know, it depends how you draw in the building.
GIAAN ROONEY: They don't hold my hopes.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, look, I don't know. She was a bobsledder, Ashley, of course, going into Beijing. So I don't know. Winter versus summer, we can see who's the better drawer potentially. So see how you feel after these gruelling questions. First question for you. Who to you is the greatest Olympian of all time?
GIAAN ROONEY: There's so many from so many different sports and nationalities. For me, in my era, I'm probably going to say Michael Phelps. Again, for those who don't probably properly understand the sport of swimming, to have longevity over five Olympics, and a lot of people forget that he was in Sydney as a 17-year-old around the same age that I was, they don't often take that into account, but five Olympics in the sport of swimming is extraordinary. And then again, to be an individual Olympic gold medallist, again, at your fifth Olympics, to finish with a grand total of 23 medals is still mind-blowing for me, still mind-blowing for me. So without thinking through any other sport at this point in time, Michael Phelps.
BEN WATERWORTH: One of my favourite sporting photos is the one he did, I think it was Sports Illustrated, he had the cover where he had all these medals around his neck and on his arm.
GIAAN ROONEY: All these medals across his chest, yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Just ridiculous, yeah. I want you to kind of do your version with your olympic, like just have the three kind of on the arm, like hey Michael, I can do that too, come on.
GIAAN ROONEY: Yeah, mine fit a lot easier than yours.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Now, I'm glad I can ask this question to somebody around my same age, because I've been asking this question a lot to 20 year olds and 18 year olds, and it makes me feel old, so this one's kind of good. The first Olympics you ever remember watching were?
GIAAN ROONEY: My properly, I remember snips of 92 in Barcelona, but properly my first ever Olympics was 96 in Atlanta. And specifically that men's 1500 with Kieran Perkins and Daniel Kowalski and Kieran winning out of lane eight is etched in my memory.
BEN WATERWORTH: 100%. And let's see, that's why I was glad, I was hoping you would answer, because it's the same answer for me. I remember snippets of Barcelona, then it was Atlanta, and then it was Sydney. So it's like, okay, good, right, London, I remember bits of London. And then I watched all of Rio.
GIAAN ROONEY: Oh my goodness, I'm old.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. What is your favourite ice cream flavour?
GIAAN ROONEY: Oh my, okay, so this is actually a hilarious question because I don't have dairy in my diet anymore, because dairy actually gives me horrendous sinus mucus problems. So if you're talking about a vegan ice cream, vegan ice cream, I can, or dairy-free ice cream, I will always go a butterscotch or a toffee or anything of that caramel family flavour. Whereas for the most part, I am eating sorbet.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, okay, right.
GIAAN ROONEY: A mango sorbet, because it doesn't have any dairy in it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, more people, sorbet is underrated. I feel that sorbet needs to be touched up more. Great, great food there. Now, I like this question for swimmers, because nowadays you kind of have almost like this pomp and pageantry when you walk out onto the deck, you've got the big graphics behind you, all this sort of stuff. You didn't really have that back when you were swimming. So if you were a baseball player, or let's say if you were a modern day swimmer, what would your walk up music be?
GIAAN ROONEY: Oh, good question. I loved pump up music. I did, but I also was all over the shop. And for some reason, I can't explain why, but I think I was a rapper in previous life. And so therefore, I know all the words to either Gangster's Paradise by Coolio and the gang, or Shoop by Salt and Pepper. So again, showing my age and my era, but I would be out dancing and rapping along to either of those if they played it in my walkout music.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, I wouldn't be doing my job right now, Giaan, if I didn't ask you to drop a verse of one of them. I mean, can you give us some of that?
GIAAN ROONEY: As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realise it's much less. I can keep going, but I won't hurt all your ears.
BEN WATERWORTH: I kind of wish we had the music to cue up and just keep going right now.
GIAAN ROONEY: Can anyone not think of when that first few bars come out of that song where they're like, oh, it's getting to Paradise.
BEN WATERWORTH: There it goes. But it's also one of those songs too, that if you've had it ruined by Weird Al Yankovic, you start singing Amish Paradise. So it kind of, you know, depends on what mood you're in, right?
GIAAN ROONEY: Yeah, and what you've been exposed to, absolutely.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly. In a movie about your life, who would play you?
GIAAN ROONEY: Oh, great question. I don't think there'd ever be any need for there to be a movie about my life. So therefore, this would never have to be a question answered. But I've never been really told that I look like anyone. I'm Hilary Swank, she, you know, a million dollar baby. Maybe I could possibly pass off as a Hilary Swank.
BEN WATERWORTH: She could play anyone, come on. I mean, million dollar baby, as you said, boys don't cry.
GIAAN ROONEY: I mean, yeah, look at that. Let's face it, it's never going to happen. So let's just say Hilary Swank.
BEN WATERWORTH: Never know, you never, never know. They said the Tokyo Olympics weren't going to happen. And here we are, you know, so. Here we are. Stranger thing to happen. What is your guilty pleasure snack?
GIAAN ROONEY: Anything of the chip variety, not so much hot chips, potato chips. So I love potato chips. Pretty much any flavour you can come across, I will take and run. And if someone puts out a bowl of chips before a main meal, I'm stuffed because that's all I want for my main meal. So if you're, if you're swinging out some, you know, used to be back in the day, light and tangy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, yeah.
GIAAN ROONEY: Or, you know, your red rock deli, lime and black pepper kind of things. I am, I'm all in. I could quite happily have a meal of potato chips or corn chips.
BEN WATERWORTH: I've got to ask the question as a, as a co-Canadian Australian podcast, during your time competing in Canada, did you ever try the ketchup or the old dress chips? And if so, what did you think of them?
GIAAN ROONEY: I don't know if I ever did, unfortunately, probably because we were always there competing and chips weren't a great part of the athlete diet at that point in time. But I would certainly love to, and in fact, it would be a disservice not to go back to Canada and now try the delicacy of-
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect excuse.
GIAAN ROONEY: Canadian chips, exactly right. I love Canada, I've been quite a few times. I would definitely go back and make my way to the chip aisle at the local supermarket.
BEN WATERWORTH: Worst case, due to COVID restrictions, we'll get Colin to send a couple of bags over and we'll forward them through to you. Because they're quite an interesting flavour, let's just put it that way. Growing up, who was your favourite sports team?
GIAAN ROONEY: Probably the Australian netball team, growing up. I remember, you know, this would make no sense to an international audience, but Vicky Wilson was an incredible Australian netballer and captain of the Australian netball team. And I had done a clinic with her when I was younger, and she was my netball idol and hero. And so, yes, I was obviously a big fan because I played netball of the Australian netball team. And I also grew up in Queensland in Australia, which is a big rugby league state, particularly where I was around Brisbane and the Gold Coast. And so my parents are huge Brisbane Broncos fans. And so I very clearly remember. Yep, exactly right. I clearly remember, you know, spending time on Friday night in front of the TV. It was the only night they were allowed to have take away was when the Broncos were playing on a Friday night.
BEN WATERWORTH: I had a similar household, Friday night takeaway night, football on TV, probably a different code for me. But it's, yeah, Friday night takeaway night, underrated Australian tradition that I think needs to be talked about. That's a good night. Always. Donald this week, dad, no, KFC, what's going on? The most recent TV show that you binge watched.
GIAAN ROONEY: Hanging for the next season to come out is Yellowstone.
BEN WATERWORTH: Ah, yes. Nice.
GIAAN ROONEY: I know.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think we've had that answer before.
GIAAN ROONEY: Yellowstone. So, Kevin Costner. And in terms of I had never really thought about it, but my husband's a farmer. So there's the farm component. It's set on a ranch in Montana. It's over land rights and it's some heavy language and some heavy experiences and things that happen. But I had never really thought about Kevin Costner in any way, shape or form before this series. And he's very good, very, very good. So Yellowstone and next season apparently comes out in the next month or so.
BEN WATERWORTH: Beautiful. I thought you were about to say kind of just towing the Channel 7 line there, Farmer Wants A Wife. Wednesday nights on Channel 7?
GIAAN ROONEY: Natalie Gruzletski is one of my very close friends. So I get all the inside goss on Farmer Wants A Wife. Don't you worry.
BEN WATERWORTH: Was that from the getaway days as well?
GIAAN ROONEY: Yes, it is from back in the day, but she's also a Gold Coast girl. And so I grew up with Nat not only doing the weather on my local TV growing up, but then also, yes, being fortunate enough to follow her and meet her properly through the getaway role. So she's divine.
BEN WATERWORTH: And speaking of getaway, can we just take a moment to say how awesome Katrina Rountree is? Can we just take a moment in time to just put that on the record once more?
GIAAN ROONEY: Incredible. One of them, probably if there was, I feel that there is only so few people that can say professional traveller on their resume.
BEN WATERWORTH: Absolutely.
GIAAN ROONEY: Yeah, Katrina is all of that and more. The ultimate professional, experienced traveller.
BEN WATERWORTH: And I will say one of the absolute nicest, genuine human beings I ever had the chance to interview. I got to, it was one of the Grand Prix's when she was doing the Celebrity Race. I think it might have been 2013 from memory and just, you know, you see, you hear, all these kind of stories and everything along those lines. But when you meet her and she's just exactly how everyone's taught, like just what a human being. I can't imagine what it would be like to work with her. So just, I wanted to put that out there. There's always any moment to celebrate Katrina. Not related to the Olympics at all, but hey, again, tick it off the bucket list. We've had nipples wings scratched off and Katrina roundtree.
GIAAN ROONEY: Is there an Olympic sport for travelling? Katrina.
BEN WATERWORTH: Gold medallist every single year. They miss out on the Logie every single damn year. I'm pissed off that Getaway never wins the Logie. So come on, there it is. What is your biggest fear in life?
GIAAN ROONEY: Having regrets. And it's how I've tried to live every aspect of my life is to have no regrets. And I feel that, you know, it doesn't need to be big things or anything like that. But at the end of the day, when my time to leave this earth is up, I want to look back and not have changed anything, not wish I'd done anything differently, not wish I'd tried harder or given that more of a go. I just want, I believe that regrets lead to unhappiness and I want a happy life. And therefore, I figure that's the connection. Have no regrets, do what you want to do, and be happy and live a happy life.
BEN WATERWORTH: Deep answer. I like it when it goes that route. Now the last question. Now, I know there's an obvious answer to this one. So I'm going to, I'm going to bar you from answering the obvious of like my family. Because we know that's the obvious answer for this one. I want you to think of an item or something for this one. What is one thing you can't live without?
GIAAN ROONEY: One thing I cannot live without. My phone. Most people would say that. You barred me from saying family and all the rest of it. I could not live without sunshine. And I know that's such a strange thing to say, but I am definitely one of those people that my mood is instantly lifted when I feel the warmth of the sun. And I'm the palest kid going around, so the sun doesn't actually like me, but I love the sun. And so I'm very sun safe when I'm out there, but it dictates my mood. And I can certainly feel myself getting in a bit of a funk when it's been day after day of rain or dark, moody, stormy days, which I love, but I also know that there needs to be an end to it as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: You can take the girl out of the Gold Coast, but you can't take the Gold Coast out of the girl. Is that basically what you're trying to say? It's always there.
GIAAN ROONEY: The least typical Gold Coast girl visually you'll ever lay eyes on, however.
BEN WATERWORTH: Besides the sun. Besides the sun. Now, Giaan, before we let you go, where can people check you out, social media and all that sort of stuff, and also plug the activewear range. I like the kind of look. I've checked it out a bit. Maybe not quite something for myself, but other people listening want to get involved.
GIAAN ROONEY: Yeah, I'm very fortunate. I can probably say that that's been the most amazing thing about from my swimming career to life after is that there's so many opportunities that have come my way that I never foresaw happening. And that's like this one where I have an active wear, leisure wear range with Harris Scarf as the retailer. And I love the fact that I basically am my own customer. I am that mum that before the way of the world at the moment with COVID, but was the same where I needed my gear to work through every component of my life. I didn't have time to go and get changed. And so what I'm putting on in the morning is what I'm putting on to exercise in, to drop the kids at school, to catch up for a coffee with a girlfriend, to go for a walk, all those things. And so I love designing and being part of a clothing ideal, if you like, that is very much me. And let's face it, with all of us working from home these days and spending more time at home than ever before, I feel like it was a great time to kind of connect the Leisurewear dots. So very, very fortunate. Social media, I have a love-hate relationship with only because I find it so time-consuming. And I don't know, there's so much that goes into either getting a good photo or finding the right moment. And like everything, I put a bit of pressure on myself to get it right. But I also love that you can spread so many good messages and messages of positive news that are happening around the world, which we all need right now to educate ourselves in ways that we haven't been able to before. So I'm giam.rooney. I'm predominantly on Instagram. I get on Twitter in a big way when there's a sporting event on. And yes, I enjoy my little communities that are on there and a bit of band fare and, as I said, hopefully telling stories as well. I love telling stories about people. So there's always a little bit of that in there as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: I just want to see you post the photos that you were doing during the Olympics, where you'd post a picture in front of the TV, celebrate. I just want that in life. Like, hey, this person, one farmer wants a wife. Yay. Or like, hey, look, you know, Kevin Costner is back on my TV.
GIAAN ROONEY: Yay.
BEN WATERWORTH: Like just, I just want constant photos of you reacting to what's on your TV. I love that.
GIAAN ROONEY: I didn't quite realise that that was going to be as well received as it was. But once again, for those, you know, not aware, I guess, I just filmed myself cheering on our Aussie athletes in Tokyo, the last five metres of a race and or last 10 metres of a race. And, you know, just going, because that's what I feel like I want to do in commentary all the time is go bananas and scream and yell and cry and get emotional. But I have to rein it in a bit when I know that it's going to be as part of their moment forevermore, whereas, you know, I'm in lockdown with no one to hear me scream or squeal or get excited. So I go for it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Why not? It's entertaining. We love to see it. Giaan, it's been an absolute pleasure learning about your career and everything else in between. Seriously, a great chat. And we're going to look forward to seeing you on our screens for many years to come. Let's just say it right now. Come back for 2032. You know, it's doable. Shane Gould and Heather Lewis can think about doing it. You can too. But it has been a seriously a lot of fun to learn a little bit more about everything here on the show today.
GIAAN ROONEY: Oh, thank you so much, Ben. Thoroughly enjoyed the chat. And yes, I'm, as I said before, thrilled to be the first Australian swimmer, Olympic swimmer on your program. But not the last. But not the last.
BEN WATERWORTH: We'll say yes to Thorpey now. He can stop bothering us. Yeah.
GIAAN ROONEY: Exactly right. I'll set the precedence. Yeah, yeah. No, thank you for a great chat.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a massive thanks there to Giaan. I want to kind of almost just say Giaan, just to kind of go on the notion there of what her principal said all those years ago. But what a thoroughly insightful chat there, so much fun to learn about her career. And as I said in the interview, just such a unique period of swimming, Giaan got to swim in, you know, sort of the bookends of these two great eras of the sport in this country. So great chat there, and go buy some of her active wear. Do it, I can't buy it, you can buy it. So that's how I try and sell it there as well. But we have got so many great more interviews coming your way here and Off The Podium. We've got so many guests that we can't even count them right now. So stay tuned for that. If you want to stay up to date with who we've got coming on the show, hit us up on social media, Off The Podium, Instagram, Twitter, and of course Facebook. And remember to subscribe to the show and all the good podcast platforms. Search for Off The Podium, hit subscribe. And while you're there, leave some feedback. Rate the show. We'd love to hear what you think about it along the way. Big thanks again to Giaan. My name is Ben. This is Off The Podium. And remember, go left.
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