Rio 2016: Aussies go Down and Under

Australians are seeking answers after their expensively-funded swimmers struggled to redeem themselves at the Rio Olympics after a disastrous showing in London four years ago.

Headed by a new coach and bolstered by rising stars, the team was predicted to win up to 11 gold medals.

But by the end of swimming events on Saturday in Rio they came away with only three golds — well below the mighty USA’s 16 and even fewer than Michael Phelps, who bagged another five himself.

High among the disappointments were the performances of favourites Cate Campbell and Cameron McEvoy, the fastest swimmers in their 100 metre freestyle events heading into Rio, who succumbed to the pressure and bombed out of the medals in their pet event.

“The Australian public could be forgiven for saying, 'well, can we have our money back then ’, Brisbane’s Courier Mail bristled on Sunday.

“The taxpayer contributed just under Aus$40 million ($30 million) to fund the Australian swimming program for the past four years, and they expect a certain return for their investment.”

The Australian newspaper said of Campbell's meltdown: “The swimming team’s Olympic campaign began with great promise, with two gold medals on the opening day, but unravelled in a race that produced the greatest shock in the pool this week.” Team figureheads Campbell and McEvoy admitted they succumbed to the pressure.

Head coach Jacco Verhaeren was more blunt, saying McEvoy had been gripped by “stage fright.”

Richard Keegan, Assistant Professor in sports psychology at the University of Canberra, said the pressure Olympic athletes experience can leave even physically fresh competitors mentally fatigued.

“If one’s entire career and life’s work is going to be defined in the next few moments, that's pressure,” Keegan said on Sunday.

“It is a long-established fact that pressure can make people underperform — whether it be choking, anxiety or distraction.

“It’s one of the main reasons sport psychology was started.

But it wasn’t all bad news. Swimming-obsessed Aussies were buoyed by wins from Mack Horton and teen sensation Kyle Chalmers, who both took home gold medals early in the Games.

Prior to Rio, Australian swimmers brought home 42 percent of the country’s gold medals since they competed in the first modern summer Olympics in 1896.