Olympic gold medallist splits with coach as drama boils over before Commonwealth Games

Olympic gold medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook and his Australian representative girlfriend Ella Ramsay have made a sudden and shock departure from their Gold Coast training base after a dramatic falling-out with respected swimming coach Mel Marshall.

Swimming Australia is managing a delicate situation involving one of its highest-profile athletes in the lead-up to this year’s Commonwealth Games, with an awkward situation lingering before trials in Sydney in early June.

Stubblety-Cook, who won gold in the men’s 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics, and Marshall – the decorated British coach who guided Adam Peaty to two gold medals and a silver in individual Olympic breaststroke events – have been at loggerheads for some time. The dispute is centred on clashing philosophies about how elements of the Griffith University Swim Club program should be run.

The broader concern for Swimming Australia is the growing list of elite swimmers to have left Marshall’s squad since her arrival in early 2025. Olympians Kaylee McKeown and Lani Pallister departed last year, and Stubblety-Cook and Ramsay are the latest to walk away in what is a concerning situation for the governing body.

Marshall was recruited from the UK to lead the Gold Coast program, with a specific focus on mentoring Stubblety-Cook, who relocated from Brisbane early last year to train under one of the sport’s most highly regarded coaches.

However, this masthead can reveal the situation deteriorated to the point of no return following a meeting between Stubblety-Cook and Marshall after last week’s Australian Open in Queensland. By Wednesday evening, Stubblety-Cook and Ramsay, an Olympic silver medallist as a relay swimmer at Paris 2024, had relocated to Victoria.

Sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it was no secret in swimming circles that Stubblety-Cook and Marshall were not on good terms and unable to settle their differences.

Stubblety-Cook and Ramsay, who are hoping to compete at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, have since linked up with the Nunawading Swimming Club in Melbourne on an interim basis, with financial assistance provided by the Queensland Academy of Sport to help facilitate the abrupt move. Where they end up remains to be seen.

Swimming Australia would not be drawn on why the pair have left the program, but provided a short statement to this masthead. Marshall declined to comment after a request was made through Swimming Australia.

“Griffith University Swim Club is currently implementing a realignment ahead of the green and gold runway into LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032,” the Swimming Australia statement read.

“This realignment has seen Zac Stubblety-Cook and Ella Ramsay depart Swimming Australia’s Griffith University’s high-performance hub and they are now training at Nunawading’s performance program.”

Dolphins coach Rohan Taylor said in a statement: “There are multiple high-performance environments throughout the country and we encourage our athletes to find the right environment that suits them,” Taylor said.

“Additionally, we support our HPEs, like Griffith University and their globally recognised head coach Mel Marshall shaping that environment.”

In January last year, Marshall spoke optimistically about the chance to work with Stubblety-Cook, who is a former world record holder.

“I’m here to coach Australia and make sure that we create an environment that’s conducive to Australians doing really well,” Marshall said. “I’m excited to work with Zac as a partnership … in that that journey as we travel through these next four years.”

However, questions have lingered over the Griffith set-up for some time. In April last year, McKeown, a five-time Olympic gold medallist, announced her departure, citing a desire to move back to the Sunshine Coast since her regular coach, Michael Bohl, departed Griffith University at the end of 2024.

“I couldn’t be more thankful to be back with people I know,” McKeown later said of returning with coach Michael Sage. “The environment here is a lot more me.”

Then last year, Pallister made the move to Dean Boxall at St Peter’s Western, leaving Marshall without the two best female swimmers in her program when she joined. Pallister went on to claim a stunning 800m freestyle silver medal at last year’s world championships where she nearly beat US great Katie Ledecky.

“Dean’s made me believe in myself more than I ever have before,” Pallister said of the move.

If Marshall is selected as a coach on the Australian team, it could be an awkward predicament if Stubblety-Cook and Ramsay are also in the Dolphins squad.

Stubblety-Cook and Ramsay will compete at Australia’s swimming trials from June 8 to 13, which serve as selection for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and Pan Pacific Championships in California later this year.