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0 Australian butterfly star Matt Temple has claimed he “doesn’t know much” regarding the ban of his head coach, but has applauded the job Peter Bishop’s replacement has done since stepping up just four months out from the Paris Olympics.
The head coach for Temple and Australian sprint king Kyle Chalmers won’t be allowed to attend the Paris Olympics in an official capacity, having had his regular coaching duties taken away in an investigation run by the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI).
It was reported on March 9 that SASI had revoked Bishop’s coaching accreditation, but the governing body did not give a reason for its investigation nor the ban.
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Assistant coach Craig Stewart is filling in for Bishop en route to Paris 2024, after which Bishop will be allowed to reapply for his role.
Temple was quizzed on the scenario at the NSW State Open Championships on Sunday night, after winning the men’s 100m butterfly and finishing second in the men’s 50m freestyle at Sydney Olympic Park.
“It’s all been on the back of our mind but we don’t know much, really, and it’s all up to SASI to figure out their side of the investigation,” Temple said.
“He [assistant coach Stewart] has done a great job so far, so we’ll see how we go for the next three, four months.”
Chalmers was asked about the situation at the same meet on Friday night. He said he was aiming to channel his energy into his Olympic preparation, instead of the situation regarding Bishop.
Temple was coy when asked what he and Chalmers had chatted about concerning the ban of their head coach.
“I haven’t really spoken about the coaching situation that much,” Temple said.
“It’s been going on for the last however long, so we’ve just continued our everyday life, working, building.
“We have a few chickens down at home, so we’ve just been keeping busy,” added Temple, one of the Australian swimming team’s most colourful characters.
Temple clocked 50.61 for his 100m butterfly win on Sunday night, comfortably beating Shaun Champion (51.97) and Ben Armbruster (52.50).
The 24-year-old posted 22.37 for second place in his 50m freestyle race, as Tom Nowakowski took victory in 22.09 and Jamie Jack third in 22.45.
Among the goals on Temple’s radar is cracking the 50-second barrier in the 100m butterfly, which would catapult him into Olympic gold medal contention in his pet event.
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The gold and silver medallists at Tokyo 2020, American Caeleb Dressel and Hungarian Kristof Milak, tore through the final in 49.45 and 49.68 respectively.
Temple claimed the Australian men’s 100m butterfly record at the Japan Open in December, ripping a 50.25.
“I moved across to Adelaide over two years ago and I think we’ve been great training partners for each other,” Temple said of his bond with Chalmers.
“We continue to push each other and I think we both have the same goal in mind, so we’re both going to strive for that, and fingers crossed we can get the job done in July, August.”
