MELBOURNE • Few jobs in sport come with as much pressure as the head coach of Australia's Olympic swimming programme, and Rohan Taylor knows that no matter what happens in the Tokyo pool next year, the buck stops with him.

Taylor, Jacco Verhaeren's trusted lieutenant, will step into the role from October, replacing the Dutchman who had been in charge for nearly seven years. The Melbourne man will inherit a top-quality programme and world champions such as Mack Horton and Ariarne Titmus. The hard part will be getting them to perform in Tokyo next year under expectations for a gold rush.

"It's the toughest meet in the world," he said. "I think only 50 per cent of the world's No. 1 ranked swimmers that go to the Olympics end up winning.

"We've definitely got it on our agenda that it's all about providing coaches and our swimmers the resources they need to prepare for that moment where it's tough."

Australian swimmers have dominated world meets only to turn to jelly on the Olympic starting block. A solitary gold was all Australia could muster eight years ago in London. While they took three at Rio 2016, it could have been more.

Cate Campbell, a former world record holder in the 100m freestyle, was one of Australia's most notable flops at Rio, dominating the heats but finishing sixth in the final. While she claimed her second 100m freestyle relay gold, she was disappointed with her own showing, calling it "the greatest choke in Olympic history".

She will be 29 when the postponed Tokyo Games open, but Taylor backed her to win the blue riband event.

He guided Australia's breaststroke queen Leisel Jones to seven world titles and nine Olympic medals across four Games.

Managing an entire swim team will be a different challenge, particularly amid the coronavirus pandemic. International competition has been put on hold due to Covid-19 and Australia's swimmers are not allowed to travel interstate let alone head overseas.

Many countries are in the same boat, noted Taylor, but such is the strength of Australian swimming that domestic meets generally feature world class competition, which could give them a head start in their preparations for Tokyo.

"It's not clear now that we're getting the upper hand in the water with 53 weeks to go to the Olympics," said Taylor.

"But from a domestic point of view, having really good athletes competing against each other - if that's all we have we've got a good advantage, which is great."

REUTERS