Young Gun Olympian Isaac Cooper

Funky Trunks swimmer Isaac Cooper won bronze in Tokyo in the 4x100m medley relay

At only 17 years of age, F-Teamer Isaac Cooper headed to Tokyo as the youngest male member of the Aussie swim team. He competed in the 100m backstroke and in the heats of the mixed relay.

Cooper grew up on a farm in Bundaberg, about 5 hours north of Brisbane. He started swimming at Fairymead Swimming Club under coaches Paul Simms and Scott Hamlet. From a young age, he showed himself to be a sprint backstroke prodigy. In the 50m backstroke, he has been the fastest-ever Australian for his age ever since he was 11 years old.

Now competing for Rackley Swim Team in Brisbane, Cooper has spent the last few months leading up to the Olympics demolishing his personal bests in both the 50m and 100m backstrokes. While no other Aussie teenager has ever broken 25 seconds in the 50m event, Cooper has now done so twice, posting a 24.92 in April of this year, and a 24.69 in May. The latter time ranks him as the 3rd-fastest Aussie in history, just behind Ben Treffers (24.54) and Mitch Larkin (24.62). But the 50m backstroke is not contested at the Games, meaning Cooper's only realistic shot of making the team was in the 100m backstroke. At Aussie Trials in June, he put up a 53.49, finishing just behind Aussie record holder Mitch Larkin who finished in 53.40. This was an astonishing time in an event where neither the 17yrs nor 18yrs national record was previously under 54.5. But with Australia's qualifying time for Tokyo set at 53.40 (Larkin matched it to the 100th of a second), the result was just barely off what was needed for an automatic spot on the team.

Fortunately, Cooper was in the top 2 in his event and easily met the international qualifying standard of 53.85. Moreover, he could swim in the heats of the men's or mixed 4x100m medley relays at the Games, allowing Mitch Larkin some extra rest in his busy event lineup. To his and his coaches' delight, minutes before the team was officially announced, Cooper received the news that he was headed to Tokyo.

Cooper entered the Games as the 26th-fastest 100m backstroker in the world since 2019, and the 22nd-fastest this year. Several swimmers ahead of him did not qualify for their own countries' teams, meaning he had an excellent chance of making the individual semifinal. Cooper swam well in his heat, finishing 4th and securing a spot in the semi where he pumped out a PB of 53.43. It was a tight field and unfortunately even his best time wasn't enough to finish with the top 8 who progressed to the final. Setting a PB in a semifinal of an Olympic Games is a massive achievement at 17 years of age.

Cooper's focus quickly shifted to the mixed 4x100m medley relay where he kicked off Australia's heat swim with a 53.55 backstroke leg followed by teammates Zac Stubblety-Cook, Brianna Throssell and Bronte Campbell, finishing .06 behind China in a time of 3:42.35. While Kaylee McKeown was chosen to swim the backstroke leg in the final, Cooper earned his first Olympic medal when Australia finished third in the final behind China and gold medalists Great Britain.

After two weeks in quarantine in Australia's remote outback facility, Howard Springs, Cooper is looking forward to reuniting with his family and friends before getting back to training in Brisbane.