Swimming Australia has cut ties with coach Michael Palfrey over “un-Australian” comments made during Paris Olympics.

In July, Palfrey came under fire after suggesting he wanted South Korean world champion Kim Woo-min to upstage Australian duo Sam Short and Elijah Winnington in the men’s 400m freestyle final, comments that Dolphins head coach Rohan Taylor branded “un-Australian”.

Palfrey, who previously worked with Kim as an adviser, made the comments despite a clear directive from Australia’s governing body for coaching staff to cut ties with international athletes before the Olympic trials.

On Friday morning, Swimming Australia released a statement confirming Palfrey’s employment had been terminated due to “a breach of his employment agreement”.

“Palfrey was found to have breached his employment contract by bringing himself into disrepute and causing serious damage to his and Swimming Australia’s reputation, and adversely affecting Swimming Australia’s interests,” Swimming Australia confirmed in a statement.

“CEO Rob Woodhouse confirmed Palfrey’s employment has ended effective immediately and the process to finding a successor for Palfrey at USC Spartans has begun.

“Palfrey retains his coach accreditation status.

“Swimming Australia will be making no further comment.”

Germany’s Lukas Maertens won gold in the men’s 400m freestyle at 3:41.78, with Winnington and Kim finishing second and third respectively.