- Swimmers preparing to meet in Tokyo 2020 where Australian will defend 400m freestyle gold as Sun awaits CAS verdict
- Melbourne school principal says reported plans to name US$16.5m pool after their only Olympian were 'never discussed'
A prestigious Melbourne private school has denied that it scrapped plans to name its pool after former pupil Mack Horton in order to protect its commercial interests in China.
Australian newspapers including The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday that the school pool was set to be renamed for the Olympic gold medallist before he snubbed Chinese swimming superstar Sun Yang at the world championships in South Korea last year.
Caulfield Grammar released a statement on Monday to deny those reports, which had drawn widespread criticism in Australia.
School principal Ashleigh Martin said that naming the swimming facility after the school's only Olympian had never been discussed.
"The school has not started a process for naming the facility after any individual, or decided at this time if it will be named after any individual," he said in a media statement.
"The naming of buildings at Caufield Grammar School is a School Council decision, and discussions relating to the naming of the Caulfield Aquatic Centre have not commenced."
Sun Yang doping verdict postponed over translation: CAS
Caulfield Grammar opened a boarding house in Nanjing in 1998 and has regularly sent pupils to China on cultural programmes.
Horton, who beat Sun to gold in the 400m freestyle in Rio, refused to share the podium with the Chinese swimmer after the he won the same event in Gwangju, South Korea last August.
The snub saw Horton heavily criticised in China, including being called "immature" by state news agency Xinhua, as well as being warned by governing body Fina.
The 23-year-old has been a long time critic of the Chinese superstar, calling him a "drug cheat" at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Sun served a drug ban in 2014 and is currently awaiting the verdict of a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing over a controversial out of competition doping test at his home in 2018.
That decision, which has been awaited since mid-January, could see Sun ruled out of the Tokyo 2020 Games. The Chinese swimmer is continuing to prepare for the Olympics despite the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, training behind closed doors in Hangzhou.
Chinese swim fans react to Swimming Australia's dope test 'cover-up'
Horton is currently training in Adelaide. He can book his place in Tokyo at Australia's trials in June.
"I have communicated with the Horton family regularly over the weekend to reiterate Caulfield's gratitude for their long association and ongoing involvement in our school," Martin said in the statement.
Reports had said that the swimmer's father was involved in the planning of the swimming facility, which cost US$16.5 million.
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
