Olympic Champ Mack Horton Posts 14:51 1500m Freestyle, World No. 3
Olympic Champ Mack Horton Posts 14:51 1500m Freestyle, World No. 3
The final night Thursday at the 2017 Australian Swimming Championships featured Mack Horton in the 1500m freestyle, Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle, Emma McKeon in the 200m butterfly, and Bronte and Cate Campbell in the 50m freestyle.
The fifth and final night of the 2017 Australian Swimming Championships provided plenty of fast swimming, especially from the Aussie distance swimmers.
Mack Horton, the 400m freestyle Olympic champ from Rio, put the distance swimming world on blast with a very strong 14:51.21 in the 1500m freestyle on Thursday night in Brisbane. Horton looked strong throughout the race -- pacing 3:53 at the 400m mark and 7:52 at the 800m mark. Jack McLoughlin had a fantastic race as well, dropping a swift 14:54.95. McLoughlin and Horton were flipping neck and neck until about the 1000m mark, where Horton made his move and pulled away. Regardless, both of them surpassed Australia's qualifying time of 14:57.82 for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on July 14-30.
Horton's time is well off the 14:39 he swam in April 2016 but is still a good sign for him going into the World Championships. As it stands today, Horton holds the third-fastest time in 2017 behind the Italian duo of Gregorio Paltrinieri (2016 Olympic gold medalist) and Gabriele Detti (2016 Olympic bronze medalist).
Now, Horton has some work to do in the 400m and 1500m if he wants to solidify his name in the Australian record books. Two of the greatest freestylers of all time, Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett, happen to maintain a stranglehold on the Aussie records in those events. Thorpe's 3:40.08 in the 400m from the 2002 Commonwealth Games is still the second-fastest performance of all time. As a matter of fact, Thorpe swam a 3:40 FIVE times in his career. Talk about greatness. In the 1500m, Hackett still holds the Australian record with a swift 14:34.56 from the 2001 World Championships -- still the fourth-fastest performance of all time.
Back to Brisbane...
Ariarne Titmus, only 16 years old, dropped a quick 4:04.82 in the women's 400m freestyle. That time is now the second fastest in the world in 2017 and closes in on Jessica Ashwood's Australian record of 4:03.34 from 2015. Coming into the meet, Titmus' best time was a 4:09.81. However, it was evident she had much more in the tank after she rattled off a quick 8:23.08 in the 800m freestyle on Sunday. She was out in 4:08.95 at the 400m mark of that race, technically a best time until Thursday. Look out for this lady to make some serious moves for medal contention in Budapest at the World Championships this summer.
Believe it, Ariarne.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BSqw_NcjpzT/?taken-by=ariarnetitmus_" hide_caption="0"]
Emma McKeon continued her great week with a swift 2:07.37 in the women's 200m butterfly. That was McKeon's third title of the meet and gives her the fourth-fastest time in the world in 2017. Looking at her splits, McKeon certainly has room for improvement in this race. Taking it out in a blistering 59.49 (27.59)(31.90), she struggled to get home in a 1:07.88 (33.06)(34.82). An eight-second differential between the first and second 100 of a 200 is pretty significant. If McKeon can ease up the gas on the front half, she could certainly be looking at a 2:05 in Budapest.
One of the most anticipated races of the meet, the women's 50m freestyle, did not quite fully live up to the hype. It was certainly a great race as the top three finishers all touched within 0.1 of a second of one another, but Bronte Campbell's 24.56 to take the win was not stellar by any means. Bronte's sister, Cate Campbell, snagged the silver medal right behind her in 24.59, and Shayna Jack rounded out the podium in third with a 24.66. None of these ladies secured Swimming Australia's qualifying time of 24.52, but being that they have already qualified for the team in the 100m freestyle, they can potentially swim in the 50m at Australia's discretion.
Mack Horton, the 400m freestyle Olympic champ from Rio, put the distance swimming world on blast with a very strong 14:51.21 in the 1500m freestyle on Thursday night in Brisbane. Horton looked strong throughout the race -- pacing 3:53 at the 400m mark and 7:52 at the 800m mark. Jack McLoughlin had a fantastic race as well, dropping a swift 14:54.95. McLoughlin and Horton were flipping neck and neck until about the 1000m mark, where Horton made his move and pulled away. Regardless, both of them surpassed Australia's qualifying time of 14:57.82 for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on July 14-30.
Horton's time is well off the 14:39 he swam in April 2016 but is still a good sign for him going into the World Championships. As it stands today, Horton holds the third-fastest time in 2017 behind the Italian duo of Gregorio Paltrinieri (2016 Olympic gold medalist) and Gabriele Detti (2016 Olympic bronze medalist).
Now, Horton has some work to do in the 400m and 1500m if he wants to solidify his name in the Australian record books. Two of the greatest freestylers of all time, Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett, happen to maintain a stranglehold on the Aussie records in those events. Thorpe's 3:40.08 in the 400m from the 2002 Commonwealth Games is still the second-fastest performance of all time. As a matter of fact, Thorpe swam a 3:40 FIVE times in his career. Talk about greatness. In the 1500m, Hackett still holds the Australian record with a swift 14:34.56 from the 2001 World Championships -- still the fourth-fastest performance of all time.
Back to Brisbane...
Ariarne Titmus, only 16 years old, dropped a quick 4:04.82 in the women's 400m freestyle. That time is now the second fastest in the world in 2017 and closes in on Jessica Ashwood's Australian record of 4:03.34 from 2015. Coming into the meet, Titmus' best time was a 4:09.81. However, it was evident she had much more in the tank after she rattled off a quick 8:23.08 in the 800m freestyle on Sunday. She was out in 4:08.95 at the 400m mark of that race, technically a best time until Thursday. Look out for this lady to make some serious moves for medal contention in Budapest at the World Championships this summer.
Believe it, Ariarne.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BSqw_NcjpzT/?taken-by=ariarnetitmus_" hide_caption="0"]
Emma McKeon continued her great week with a swift 2:07.37 in the women's 200m butterfly. That was McKeon's third title of the meet and gives her the fourth-fastest time in the world in 2017. Looking at her splits, McKeon certainly has room for improvement in this race. Taking it out in a blistering 59.49 (27.59)(31.90), she struggled to get home in a 1:07.88 (33.06)(34.82). An eight-second differential between the first and second 100 of a 200 is pretty significant. If McKeon can ease up the gas on the front half, she could certainly be looking at a 2:05 in Budapest.
One of the most anticipated races of the meet, the women's 50m freestyle, did not quite fully live up to the hype. It was certainly a great race as the top three finishers all touched within 0.1 of a second of one another, but Bronte Campbell's 24.56 to take the win was not stellar by any means. Bronte's sister, Cate Campbell, snagged the silver medal right behind her in 24.59, and Shayna Jack rounded out the podium in third with a 24.66. None of these ladies secured Swimming Australia's qualifying time of 24.52, but being that they have already qualified for the team in the 100m freestyle, they can potentially swim in the 50m at Australia's discretion.