'We will be forever grateful for him': How cult hero coach Dean Boxall handled complex night at Paris pool

PARIS: Anyone familiar with Dean Boxall's eccentric ways and complex job, which tasks him with coaching two world-beating swimmers contesting the same event, knew they were set for two must-watch shows.

The show that took top billing in the Olympic pool on Tuesday morning (AEST) was of course the battle between Boxall's two all-star pupils, Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O'Callaghan, who met inside the Paris La Defense Arena to fight for gold in the women's 200m freestyle.

The other show that had thousands of people waiting feverishly was the Boxall show, set to play out high in the stands as the master coach gazed down at his golden girls.

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In the all-but-guaranteed event of either Titmus or O'Callaghan clinching gold in the four-lap dash, there was no chance of Boxall exploding in a fashion similar to the scenes at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, where the South African-born coach, a volcano of passion, appeared to have the wildest of out-of-body experiences.

In celebration of Titmus' come-from-behind 400m triumph over American legend Katie Ledecky in Tokyo, a veins-bulging Boxall belted thin air with a barrage of punches, ripped off his face mask and dry-humped a handrail.

The celebration went viral and made him a cult hero.

For Boxall, the situation in which he found himself in Paris was planets apart from the scenario in Tokyo. In the Japanese capital, it was Titmus versus the world, but in the French capital, it was one of his students against another.

It meant that instead of seeing Boxall at his ferocious best, those tuned in would see a far more subdued Boxall, but an unmissable Boxall nonetheless.

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In the moments that followed the titanic duel, in which O'Callaghan toppled Titmus to capture her first Olympic gold medal in an individual event, Australian swimming great Giaan Rooney offered typically astute analysis.

"Coach Dean, he's almost got to find a way to celebrate quietly when he's got both his charges in this 200m freestyle," Rooney said on the Nine broadcast.

"He can't seem too excited for Mollie, he can't seem too upset for Arnie."

In absence of his outrageous celebration, which he unfurled in Tokyo and repeated at last year's world championships in Fukuoka, Boxall, on his feet high in the stands, clapped gently and, with calm control, raised his hands above his head.

During the medal ceremony, as O'Callaghan had a gold medal looped around her neck and Titmus a silver medal, Boxall watched on like a proud dad, clapping his two exceptional pupils with calm applause.

"I think he should be so proud of his efforts," Titmus told Nine's Ellie Cole poolside.

"He is a brilliant coach. I believe he's the best in the world."

Since Titmus joined Boxall's St Peters Western stable in Brisbane as a 15-year-old in 2016, the Launceston-born superfish has won three individual Olympic golds and four solo world championship golds. She also owns the world records in the 200m and 400m freestyle events.

Boxall took on O'Callaghan in 2019, at which point the Logan-born champion was also 15, and since then, the red-headed young gun has captured one individual Olympic gold and three solo world championship golds.

"To manage this and have the two fastest girls in the world is a credit to him," added a smiling Titmus.

"It's not just us; opening night he contributed to every medal that we won as a coach.

"I just feel very blessed to have him in our corner. If you want anyone backing you, it's Dean, and we will be forever grateful for him."