Tasmania’s Max Giuliani has scored his ticket to the Paris Olympics after a nail-biting win in the men’s 200m freestyle final at the Australian Swimming Championships in Brisbane.
The 20-year-old from Hobart beat Tommy Neill by just 0.19 seconds in the thrilling race on Tuesday night.
Giuliani, who once thought he’d end up as a tradie in Tasmania, only started swimming again after a brief break as a teenager in a last-ditch effort to become an Olympian.
He currently works at an Anaconda Store on the Gold Coast, but is certain to now have to take a break as he prepared for the Paris games in 10 weeks.
“I pulled back a bit last week [on shifts at work],” Giuliani said with a grin after the race.
“I just go in there and switch off and hang with the boys and just muck around and not think about swimming, he told Nine.
“I did a bit of work experience with a plumbing company, a fire protection company. I was cutting pipes. I ended up sticking to swimming and I’m so happy. I was super nervous.”
Giuliani shot up the leaderboard last year with a remarkable relay lead-off time of 1:44.79 at an event in Queensland, the second-fastest time in Australian history behind Ian Thorpe.
“I thought I’d be a little bit faster tonight, but hey, I won. I’ve done a lot of work,” he told Nine.
Defending double Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus is also heading to the Olympic Games.
The 23-year-old Tasmanian came within 0.06 seconds of breaking her own world record as she dominated the 400-metre freestyle during the opening night of finals at the Australian Swimming Trials.
The Olympic Games begin on July 24.
