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August 28, 2025 • 12 mins

In this week's episode, Ebony Abblitt spoke with Olympic swimming sensation Max Giuliani during his recent trip home to Tasmania, speaking about recent World Championship success, upcoming training, sharing skills with the next generation - and more.

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Speaker 1 (00:01):
My Heart Dasi.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
It's been a big couple of years for TAZI swimmer
Max Giuliani, moving from his home in Carlton in the
States south up to the Gold Coast to try and
turn his swimming into a professional career. But it's absolutely
paid off. For a medals in his maiden Olympics in
Paris last year to being part of a record breaking
World Championship swimming team this year, He's leaving proof that

(00:24):
hard work, determination, courage and a very good diet and
strong trading program payoff. I'm Ebie Applert and for this
week's episode of My Heart Tazzi, I spoke with Max
Giuliani during his most recent trip home, all about what
the Paras Olympics were really like, how he tries to
enjoy his downtime, and what's next for him, including the
pathway to a home Olympics in twenty thirty two.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
My Heart Dazzi.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Representing Australia at the Paras Olympics last year was a
childhood dream come true for Max Giuliani.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
It was the absolutely incredible. I mean it's a little
bit different what I kind of thought it'd been. You're
told as a kid it is quite a lot different,
but yeah, the whole experience was absolutely incredible. I mean,
the racing was amazing, but to be honest, the memories
made afterwards those two weeks just with a lot of
my best friends, like partying and hanging out in Paris
the stuff I will yet never forget. Yeah, things I'll

(01:16):
be able to tell my kids. That feeling in Paris
that I experienced really feels me every day in training
to want to do it again.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
A few things though not the later as you expected,
the infamous can't board beds and lack of aircorn at
the athletes Philliage among them, but's still an incredible experience.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
As a kid, I suppose you're told that it's this
amazing performance environment and everything you want is there, but
in reality it isn't at all. And I think it's
really important as a kid too, if you don't have
the opportune competition environment, just to remember when you get older,
it's much the same things go wrong, and I think
you're going to embrace that. I really want to feel
into your champion one day, and I think the way

(01:52):
we're going, we've got a really good opportunity, especially in
those relays. I mean we're world champions this year in
the foot by one. I think our foot by two
had an insane amount of potential as well to be
world champions. But I mean we did an amazing job.
We still got a bronze, but we could have executed
it better, I think, and I think, come La, we're
going to be extremely good in both of those events.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Max entering into the time honored tradition of getting the
Olympic rings tattooed on him and experience he saved for
a trip back home, he went.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Into a tatoo collective and got the rings on my
forum childhood dream achieved. That's, yeah, the only tatoo I'll
ever get. I think it's the only tatoo I ever wanted.
And I was twenty one when I got a twenty
one years old. Yeah, it's absolutely incredible. It's pretty cool
to look down and see it and just remind myself
occasionally that I've done what I wanted to do somewhat
when I'm down on myself in training all the rest,

(02:40):
I'm just going to remember that me two years ago
or twelve months ago, Yeah, wouldn't even believe I'm in
the position that I am now.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
He's just returned to Australia from the World Championships in Singapore,
where the team became world champions on the very first day,
sat down as a.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Four x one hundred team, had dinner a couple of nights,
been trying to spake about it. We're like, you know what,
like we can win this, Like this is the best
one hundred breeze ever been in Australia and we've got
an extremely good opportunity to kind of do this if
we all do what we need to do in the race.
The coaches bled in US. I don't think any of
the other countries were kind of worried about us, which
is good to a point. I think a lot of

(03:16):
the time the Ossie's kind of going into the underdogs,
which is which is always good, I suppose. And then yeah,
that our heat was amazing qualified second, I think, and
we all had a lot of time to drop from
the morning into the evening, and then yeah, got out
to that final swim, all did what we needed to
do and managed to get the gold medal. I remember
speaking to Kyle afterwards and he's like, I saw when

(03:38):
go really good Tom off the front. I saw Kai
go a crazy time second and my mouth just went
dry and I was like, oh my god, we're going
to win this, Like holy shit, this is this is it,
this opportunity And I had my swim and he had
his swim, and we did what we needed to do.
I think it's the fastest swim ever in the textile suits.
We looked quite close to the world record and broke
the championship record. And again, very young team, so I

(03:59):
think the next couple of years where quite a good opportunity.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Big won't be going into their next competitions with the
same level of underdog status, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Absolutely for our it was unbelievable. It was quite hard
being on day one and being world champions on day one.
I think that's probably one of the hardest days to
do it, to be straight up, and you've got to
get up and win and sort of set the tone
for the country, which everyone kind of did, which was great.
You've got to keep a lid on it as well,
because you can expand a whole lot of energy. But yeah,
we could have all gone nuts and completely ruined the
rest of our week's racing, but we still had some events,

(04:30):
so I think we all did quite a good job
keeping the lid on it. But yeah, afterwards we are Yeah,
certainly let it all out and had a lot of
fun and I think it's only just going to keep
thinking in that. Yeah, we're world champions.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
There's a lot of travel in the immediate future for
ANAX the World Aquatic Swimming World Can't coming up, which
includes two stomps in America and one in Toronto, Canada.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
I'll be away there probably four and a half weeks,
I think, which will be awesome, and that'll be really good.
There's a lot of debt in America. It's also a
short course, which is their specialty, so it's going to
be some tough, tough racing in the morning to make
those finals, I think, which I'm really excited for. A
lot of countries are amazing at their trials. It's quite
hard to deliver us sometimes on the world's stage, and
I think that's something the obvious do very very well.

(05:11):
I mean everyone in that fall I one improved on
the performances from trials significantly and that's all it's about really.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
After that, needs some time back in Oz but still
a fair way away from home.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
We've got a three week heat camp up in Rockhampton,
which will be great. It's good to go up there
and just yeah, get getting the heat and work really hard,
and then we've got Stay Championships. At the end of
the year. Into next year, we'll do altitude I think
up at flag Staff in America, so that'll be probably
four and a half five weeks away, which will be great.

(05:42):
We'll come back. Then we'll have our trials in Sydney,
which will be good, and then yeah, following that there's
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, so that'll be a massive campaign.
I hard, Jazzy, really my heart Assy.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
It's looking likely Max will spend at least half the
year away next year, but it's all worth it chasing
that dream.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
I've got the best job in the world, but I
mean I get to trump the world and do what
I love, which is swimming. I'm studying now as well,
so it's quite challenging to balance UNI and swimming sometimes,
especially with the Union, I'm that they don't really offer
any online options, so I can kind of only manage
one subject semester, and if I'm not there, I'm kind
of not in the best position when it comes to

(06:27):
exams and assignments. And all that kind of stuff, but
it's awesome. I don't love travel. I like the flights
and stuff I really hate, like going through customs really
annoys me. But yeah, the rest of it, seeing the
world and getting to travel with my best friends and
do what I love is just yeah, absolutely incredible. I
couldn't be happier with the position I'm in now, and
I'm really really happy that I started swimming and I'm

(06:47):
not working on the job site every day.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
That's something Max speaks about openly, how he'd been close
to throwing in the towel but took a leap of
faith with the encouragement of those clothes to him moving
to Queensland for one last crack at taking swimming, getting
the call that he'd made the team, and every moment
since proof he made the right call.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
Anyone that asks me about that kind of stuff now,
I'm like, always, yeah, always bet on yourself. If you
want it and you think you've got it and people
have told you you've got it, you've got to you've
got to do, and you've got to go and do it.
I think really just back yourself in and try and
outwork everyone. I think that's something I've done quite well.
Is just really like, I know how to hurt, and
I learned that down in Tazzy. I think everyone down

(07:27):
here he's got a little bit of extra toughness and
a little bit tapped mentally, And I think that's very
important when it comes to lead sport. You've got to
be willing to hurt and willing to work. I mean,
in any aspect of your life. I think that's important
as well. But yeah, if it comes to support, I
think it's always worth having that extra practice you think
you've got it. The line my coach always says, it's
a whole lot better partying with a gold medal around
your neck. And yeah, absolutely coming back here a winner

(07:51):
is certainly a lot better than kind of coming back
here not a winner, and that, yeah, that really really
feels me that every time I want to come back here,
I want to show my friends, with my family what
I've done it, why I've been sacrificing. I suppose. I'm
suppose it's not really a sacrifice. Is that it's just
a choice, why I've chosen this path during my prime years,
I suppose, But yeah, it's also so worth of that

(08:14):
feeling of winning or doing a personal best is absolutely unmatched.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Spending some downtime at home recently, time with his family,
seeing his friends, or normal things for most of us
that aren't that easy for.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Him, a bit of rest in recovery. Really, I've got
to keep it sticking over I just so I don't
get back and swim like a doll was off, get
injured all the rest of it. It's really important that
I kind of maintain some sort of fitness. But yeah,
really just catching up with friends. But I don't get
to see a whole lot. I need eating some food,
so I wouldn't normally get to eat, staying up later,
all that kind of stuff. When I'm back on the

(08:46):
gold case. I suppose that's kind of my professional life
up there. It's a whole lot difference to down here.
So a lot of the time, actually, when I come
on break, I just feel like absolutely rubbish. For two weeks.
I stop going to bed on time, I stopped eating
super well, I stop exercising as much, and I just
feel horrible. But it's very very important to have that
time each year.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
I think the trip home also including teaching at Skills
Clinic in Hobart for young swimmers and time training at
the Tasmanian Institute of Sport facilities in lawn Sestern, including
a spin session in a high altitude chamber. He says
what the TIS has to offer in both Hobart and
lawn Sestern is consistently on the improve for the most part, though.
It's a well deserved break before heading back into routine

(09:26):
and that strict training regime.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
Mine swims, three gyms, five sauna, a bit of gymnastics
as well some physio. It's like a favorit of try
and stuff. I mean, it's pretty full. While when you're
an athlete, every second you're kind of an athlete, Like
every decision you make I think needs to be reflective
of your goals in your sports. You've got to eat well,

(09:50):
sleep well. I think recovery is just as hard as training,
to be quite honest. You've got to recover just as
hard as you train, so you can just consistently get
up perform with.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
A strong goal and a dream to make two more
Olympic Games teams for swimming, including Brisbane twenty thirty two.
It's that discipline that will continue to drive success.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Absolutely, that's the dream have that as my last game.
That would be unbelievable, and men who knows what kind
of technology will be around by then. I think all
sports are evolving by the second in technology available, and
the age of kind of retirement is increasing. I mean,
back when Thorpe was swimming, everyone was kind of retiring
at my age twenty two to twenty three. And now
you look at like Cam and Kyle Hans thirty one

(10:33):
I think in swimming personal best and Kyle's yeah, late twenties.
They're both dads now as well. Actually, yeah, I just
think by the time I get to that age, there's
going to be a lot more kind of available and
I'll be able to I mean to be awesome to
go past Brisbon if my body lets me in my mind,
let's near. But yeah, that's the goal currently. And I
think kind of spending my young years down here and

(10:53):
pass he not kind of doing as much as they
sort of do in Queensland or other states, has really
been a big better to me. I've got really good shoulders,
my body's not broken, which is unbelievable, and I've got
quite a young training age, which is awesome compared to
one of the other people. I mean, they've been doing
big k's and big sets from the time they were
kind of thirteen, so they've been at it probably eight

(11:15):
seven eight years really doing those big sets. I've been
at it late two and a half three since I
moved to Queensland, so I think I've still got a
lot of improvements to give.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Getting to represent your country in your chosen spool to
dream of many of us from when we were younger,
which is the reality for Max Giuliani. By the possibility
of representing your country in a home Olympics, I currently imagine.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
I mean, the crowd in Paris for the French athletes
is absolutely incredible, and I know how much the Ausies
love best sport. I think, yeah, it will be absolutely unmatched.
I mean, it's quite unfortunately we don't have home games
in Melbourne next year, but that would have been a
great past before and I think, but yeah, I think
Britain will be absolutely insane. Yeah, it'll be.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
It'll be crazy and TAZZI can't wait to watch. And
that's it for this week's episode of My Heart Tazzy.
I'm Ebity applet. Thanks so much for joining me.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
My Heart's Assim
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