Mitch Larkin has conceded the past few weeks have been ‘challenging’ in the wake of his break-up with fellow Olympic swimming star Emily Seebohm.
The male pool star is hard at work in preparation for his favoured 200m event at this week’s Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo.
He said: ‘It’s been challenging but we had a fantastic camp in Cairns.
Mitchell Larkin (right), performs on the first day of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo
‘It’s been a fantastic environment to train and race together. I feel really good,’ he said according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Larkin and Olympic gold medallist Seebohm hit the headlines in the build-up to the competition when The Daily Telegraph reported Larkin was suspected of having an ‘affair with another swimmer outside the Australian swim team’.
Seebohm was given permission to break from training camp in Cairns at the end of last month, but she said the decision was not due to her split from Larkin.
In an Instagram post published on July 16, Seebohm said it was ‘in her best interest to stay in Brisbane … due to my horse Platinum needing extensive medical care’.
Larkin and Emily Seebohm have seen their respective preparations marred by coverage of their split – first reported on July 20
In a July 20 Instagram post published on the same day as the Telegraph’s revealing of Larkin’s ‘affair’, Seebohm appeared to have sought to create her own identity following their break-up
Seebohm took time off from camp in Cairns at the end of July to tend to her horse – who she said need ‘extensive medical care’ in another Instagram post
She did admit though that the circumstances in the build-up to the competition ‘had not been my best prep’.
Seebohm appears to have sought to create her own identity following the break-down of the relationship.
On July 20, she posted an Instagram photo of her performing an acrobatic handstand, along with the caption ‘this is the only bender I go on these days’.
One commenter added, having read the Telegraph’s coverage of the split, that ‘Mitch is a silly boy for walking away from that sensation’.
Larkin has already swum on the first day of the meet, and has qualified sixth for the final.
Meanwhile, 2016 gold medallist Seebohm won her heat in a time of 58.79s as she set a championship record in the 100m backstroke heats in Tokyo.