A chicken parmi was Flynn Southam’s secret weapon when he embarked on a bulk-up program over summer as part of his Olympic preparation.
But friend turned to foe last week when some dodgy pub grub gave him a savage bout of food poisoning ahead of the NSW Swimming Championships, where the Bond University student was attempting to defend his 200m freestyle crown.
Weak and weary, the 18-year-old dragged himself to the Sydney Olympic Park and produced an admirable 1:48.28 to edge out Max Giuliani (1:48.53) and fellow Bondie Alexander Graham (1:48.71).
The Hancock Prospecting Swimming Excellence scholarship recipient was part of the 4x100m Freestyle relay team that broke a world record to claim a gold medal for Australia at the World Swimming Championships at Fukuoka last year.
But the Bachelor of Psychological Sciences student is also putting himself in the discussion for a 200m berth on the Australian team for Paris.
Southam had been set an off-season strength and conditioning program by Bond University Swimming’s head coach Chris Mooney and Strength and Conditioning coach Joe Coyne that succeeded in stacking 7kg of muscle onto his frame, which should enable him to generate more power for the biggest year of racing in his career so far.
He promptly shed 3kg of his hard-earned gains after waking up at his girlfriend’s place feeling crook following the ill-fated parmi.
“There were freshly painted white walls in the bathroom," Southam told reporters poolside after his 200m triumph.
"I ran in there and did a bit of artwork myself. I was vomiting my guts up. I lost about three kilos and was pretty low on energy.
"For me to come here and do a time like that, all things considered I'm pretty happy and proud of myself that I can get through that adversity.
"Usually when I'm coming into a meet my energy is up around that 10; now it's about a five or a six."
Ben Armbruster also claimed a gold medal in the 50m backstroke and backed-up with a silver in the 50m butterfly and bronze in the 100m butterfly.
Hancock Prospecting Swimming Excellence scholarship recipient Josh Collet was also a regular on the podium, claiming a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke, silver in the 200m breaststroke and bronze in the 100m while Minna Atherton finished third in the 200m backstroke.
The wins headlined a great week for the Bull Sharks swim squad which won the club points tally.
The Bull Sharks have placed an emphasis on building resilience and durability over summer with a program devised by Mooney and Director of Swimming Kyle Samuelson, and the coaches were pleased with how they backed that up in competition.
“It was a solid week of in-season racing from our guys,” Mooney said.
“They have been in some heavy training with all our preparation geared towards the Olympic trials and to go down there and win the club points competition and see a handful of our athletes post personal bests times was very pleasing.
“We are creating depth and also building resilience across the group and I think Flynn demonstrated that in the 200m.”
The Bull Sharks are now in preparation for the Australian Titles beginning at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre on April 6.