Swimming 2022: Mack Horton on track to bag individual gold at World Championships
Mack Horton’s finally free of disgraced Chinese rival Sun Yang and has finally popped the question to his childhood sweetheart – now it’s time to tick off the one thing missing on his resume.
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Free at last from his long running feud with his disgraced Chinese rival Sun Yang, Australian anti-drugs crusader Mack Horton has some unfinished business of his own to settle at this week’s world swimming championships.
The Olympic champion at Rio in 2016, Horton also has a Commonwealth Games title from 2018 on his resume but the only thing missing is an individual world title. and that could end this weekend.
Horton did win a gold medal in the relays at the last world titles in 2019 but had to settle for silver in the individual 400m freestyle behind Sun, who was shamefully allowed to compete despite having already been busted for tampering with his doping samples before they could be tested for drugs.
Sun was later banned until the 2024 Paris Olympics but was still allowed to keep his gold medal because the sport’s gutless officials were too frightened to stand up to China – unlike the fearless Horton who refused to join on the medal podium.
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The universal respect Horton got was worth more than a gold medal but after he also finished runner-up in the 400m at the 2017 world titles he’s hoping to make it third time lucky after turning his life around following a rare, miserable experience at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Although he set the third fastest time in the world, in the lead up to the Olympics, Horton did not get the chance to defend his 400m freestyle crown in Japan because the only two people ahead of him were also Aussies – Jack McLoughlin and Elijah Winnington – and each country is limited to two competitors.
Horton has always been a master at peaking at the biggest events but was forced to watch the finals from the stands – and it was a gut-wrenching experience as Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui won the Olympic gold in the slowest winning time in 25 years.
“It was hard to sit there and watch,” Horton told News Corp. “But I watched all of it. I wanted to torture myself.”
With McLoughlin taking a sabbatical to finish his university studies, Horton made it safely this time and will line up alongside Winnington as one of the favourites to win the 400m gold in Budapest on Sunday.
“I know I can make big improvements at the major meets but the trick is getting there because it‘s a hard team to make.,” Horton said.
“It probably could have gone one or two ways after last year.
“You could just pack it in or just get back down to work and that‘s what I did because it made me very hungry.”
Already 26, Horton knows he’s running out of chances although he has a few years still ahead of him, but to get the best out of himself, he made some big changes after Tokyo.
He left his home state of Victoria and his lifelong coach Craig Jackson to join Michael Bohl’s star studded squad on the Gold Coast.
Although he’s still churning through the laps every day, Horton said the change of scenery had given him a new zest for the pool – and reinforced his long term goal of winning another gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But there’s that unfinished business to sort out first.
As well as Sunday’s 400m showdown, he also has next month’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, then another world championships in mid 2023, shortly after which he will be getting married to his childhood sweetheart Ella Walter after he recently popped the question.
“I think we probably both knew it was always going to happen but I just had to pull the trigger,” he said.
“But life is good. I feel fresh and I’m loving the squad I’m training with.
“The Olympics is the pinnacle and the reality of the Olympic cycle is that you’re trying to gear everything towards the Olympics and world championships are just a stepping stone.
“If it works out at some point then great but the end goal is the Olympics.”
WORLD CHAMPS: NEXT-GEN SWIMMERS SET TO TACKLE USA
Australia’s record breaking swimmers will be back in international waters for the first time since last year’s Tokyo Olympics, chasing another stack of gold medals at the world championships in Budapest, starting Saturday.
Taking place a month before the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, there’s a few big names missing from the Dolphins team that cleaned up in Tokyo – including Ariarne Titmus, Emma McKeon and the Campbell sisters Cate and Bronte.
But the depth of the team is so strong at the moment that there’s still plenty of established and emerging stars ready to take on and conquer the world as they begin their preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
If they can repeat their strong performances from last month’s trials, the Australians should collect one of their biggest ever medal hauls from a world championships, finishing ahead of every country except the United States.
Overflowing with talent, the women will be led by two of the brightest talents Australian swimming has produced in years – in Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan.
The Aussie men don’t have the same depth but still have plenty of live chances, led by Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook.
Australian swimmers to watch at the 2022 world championships (June 18-25)
Kaylee McKeown
Stole the hearts of Australia when she won three gold medals in backstroke at Tokyo after losing her father to cancer. For Budapest, the Queenslander has entered five events – including the 200m individual medley – and could medal in them all.
Zac Stubblety-Cook
The only Aussie male swimmer to win gold in Tokyo, Stubblety-Cook is on fire this season, breaking the 200m breaststroke world record at the trials and reckons he’ll go even faster when he gets to Europe.
Mollie O‘Callaghan
Already dubbed the next big thing in swimming, the Brisbane teenage sensation won two gold medals as a relay swimmer in Tokyo while still at high school. A top contender in 100m and 200m freestyle in Budapest, she will also swim in at least four – possibly five – relays so could come away with a massive medal haul.
Elijah Winnington
Ultra talented freestyler who has qualified to swim 200m, 400m, 800m and 4x200m relay in Budapest. Was disappointed by his performances in Tokyo but has bounced back strongly and has strong prospects this year.
Lani Pallister
The daughter of former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Janelle Elford, Pallister is a boom distance swimmer who has qualified in the 400m, 800m and 1500m – the same events as American superstar Katie Ledecky. Named best female swimmer at the 2019 junior world championships, this is Pallister’s first senior competition but it won’t be her last.
Kyle Chalmers
Recently returned from injury, Australia’s freestyle sprint king wasn’t planning to go to the world titles but changed his mind at the last minute. However, instead of swimming his usual event – 100m freestyle – he has entered the 50m and 100m butterfly, plus made himself available for the relays.
Shayna Jack
Returning to the sport after serving a two-year ban for a doping offence she insists she is innocent of, Jack’s redemption story is only just getting started. She’s a strong contender for a medal in the 50m and 100m individual freestyle events as well as the Australian relay.
Mack Horton
Was at the centre of a global storm at the last world championships when he bravely took a stand against the participation of Sun Yang after he had committed another doping violation. China’s troubled champion has since been banned and Horton is back in form chasing his first individual world title in 400m.
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