AYOF can set Olympic behaviour bar: Crow - Sydney Morning Herald

AAP

There is no simple answer to improving Australia's athlete behaviour and mental preparation at future Olympic Games, but rower Kim Crow senses events like the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) are part of the solution.

Crow, chairwoman of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) Athletes' Commission, spoke at an AYOF drug education session on Thursday morning.

The sixth edition of the AYOF, established as a legacy from the 2000 Sydney Games, features almost 500 young Australian athletes and is a rare chance for the AOC to enshrine its values.

Crow, who won silver and bronze medals at the London Olympics where fellow rower Josh Booth was sent home for damaging shop windows while drunk, says she learned a lot from attending the inaugural AYOF in 2001.

The 27-year-old believed the event helped lay the groundwork on what's acceptable at an Olympics.

"It gives a lot of young kids the chance to be leaders early on ... and they take (lessons) back to their peers," AYOF ambassador Crow said.

"It means that down the track, we can make sure there's a consistent culture.

"And we can set just how high the bar actually is in terms of the behaviour we expect from all our Olympians."

Aside from Booth's antics, members of Australia's swim team were accused of bullying and childish pranks amid the nation's worst performance in an Olympic pool for 20 years.

World champion James Magnussen, considered an unbeatable favourite in the 100m freestyle at the Olympics, bore the brunt of criticism as Swimming Australia ordered a review into team culture.

Magnussen said this week he got his life outside the pool "wrong" and was trying to improve himself as a person.

Crow said an athlete's first Olympics was a daunting experience.

"I think that's what's really good about this. It has an opening ceremony. It has a whole lot of other things that you wouldn't normally have at a championship, which almost distracts you from your event.

"But that's the Olympics. Living in the village is very different. There's heaps of people and it can be quite intimidating as well.

"There's so many external factors to deal with, so it's really good practice to do that now."

Bernie Mulroy, coach of Australia's 36-strong swim team at the AYOF, said the four-day meet offered a "huge educational opportunity".

"It's probably one of the few meets that will replicate an Olympic village-type atmosphere. Long, long days and the like," Mulroy said.