Olympic swimmer Mack Horton embarks on new sporting career after retiring

He only retired from swimming two months ago but Olympic gold medallist Mack Horton this weekend takes a massive step pursuing his new sporting passion.

Mack Horton is embarking on a new sporting adventure. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Guess who’s back? Back again. Mack is back. Tell a friend.

Apologies to Eminem there, but Olympic gold medalist and swimming hero Mack Horton is back on the sporting stage this weekend, just two months after announcing his retirement from the sport which made him a household name.

The 400m freestyle winner from the 2016 Rio Olympics will be one of more than 1600 athletes tackling a 1.9km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run during the IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong event on Sunday.

The man who received international acclaim for his hard-line stance against rival and drug cheat Sun Yang at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships is looking to find new ways to challenge himself physically since retiring from competitive swimming.

It won’t be Horton’s first time competing an Ironman, having set the fastest swim time in last year’s Sunshine Coast event, but this will be his first race since retirement and he expects the challenge to be even greater this time around.

Mack Horton in the pool Photo: AFP.

“For the last one I had a fair amount of time on the bike and legs to get land fit,” Horton said.

“I’ve retired from swimming so naturally that comes with a decrease in fitness and I’ve also started a 9-5 job.

“The comparison between Sunshine Coast and Geelong will be a direct reflection on what a 9-5 job does to fitness levels.”

Speaking of 9-5 jobs …

Warner Bros exec had to Google Tassie Devil

We’re hoping the desk jockeys at Warner Bros have spent a bit of time this week researching their famous characters following revelations that one of the head honchos there had no idea that their famous Tassie Devil character was actually based on a real, live animal.

Thankfully, once this realisation dawned on them it paved the way for a much more amicable resolution with the AFL around copyright issues surrounding the new team from the southern island state.

Warner Bros animated cartoon character Taz, the Tasmanian Devil.

To their credit, Warner Bros was super quick to make amends for their lack of marsupial knowledge by having Jim Cummings, the voice of Looney Tunes character ‘Taz The Devil’, use his Twitter account to send a video sporting the club’s Devils logo to offer his best wishes after Monday’s team launch.

Now, should we tell them that the Road Runner and Wile E Coyote are also based on real animals too?

Speaking of zany characters who do death-defying stunts …

Evel Knievel: eat your heart out

Gold Coast motocross legend Robbie Maddison has this week revealed plans to break a world record which not even the famed mad man Evel Knievel could achieve.

Despite still mourning the tragic passing of close mate Jayden Archer, who was killed while attempting a triple backflip in Melbourne three weeks ago, Maddison has opened up on plans to jump across the Snake River Canyon in the US state of Idaho.

According to Maddison, that grand canyon leap would require a clearance of 2500 feet, or 762 metres – which is longer than 15 Olympic sized swimming pools end on end!

Stunt man Robbie Maddison. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

“He (Knievel) tried to do it on a rocket and I am working on making that jump successful in 2025,“ Maddison told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

“I just want to do it because it is what I dreamt about as a kid and as part of my career I thought I was going to stop when I had kids.

“I found myself not actively getting up and grinding everyday and I thought what sort of example am I setting for my kids you know. They are going to think you can just cruise all day and it’s not the way.

“So with the technology where it is now I think I have a great concept that I want to pull off and I want to get that done in 2025 and then just focus on my kids.”

Speaking of kids …

Junior sports star of the week

For our junior sports star of the week it is impossible to look past pocket rocket Waiaria Ellis.

She’s the daughter of an NRL gun who has also played the game but right now this teen footy sensation is trying her hand at rugby – and creating history as she goes.

Ellis, who goes by the nickname Bubba, took the field off the bench for the Waratahs in the Super Rugby season opener against the ACT Brumbies last Saturday to become the youngest Waratahs player ever to debut for the NSW club – breaking the record by a day.

Waiaria Ellis of the Waratahs. Photo: Getty Images.

“I just love it. I love playing football. It makes me proud to walk out on a field wearing a jersey and I always feel like my hard work gets me some rewards,’’ Ellis said.

“I’m just grateful to be there. I smile a lot because I’m so proud of my teammate and my girls.’’

The teen’s father Ben Ellis was a former junior Kiwi and played for the North Sydney Bears before joining the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL.

Quote of the week

“It’s probably not hard to beat Kane Cornes when he had two kicks,” said former GWS player Dylan Buckley when he was this week announced as the fourth player who will line up in the 2024 version of the Carlton Draft local footy initiative.

Other ex-AFL players who have also been confirmed for this year’s event include Trent Cotchin, Isaac Smith and Matthew Lloyd.

Originally published as Olympic swimmer Mack Horton embarks on new sporting career after retiring