Mack Horton ready to prove 1500m freestyle is ‘Australia’s race’ in showdown with Gregorio Paltrinieri

MACK Horton and Gregorio Paltrinieri have formed an unusually close friendship for such natural rivals, but that will all go to one side this weekend as they battle for 1500m supremacy.

Mack Horton and Gregorio Paltrinieri have formed an unusually close friendship for such natural rivals

MACK Horton believes the 1500m freestyle is Australia’s race and he wants to take it back. But the reigning Olympic and world champion Gregorio Paltrinieri, of Italy, says it is “my race’’ and therein lies the problem.

They can’t both be right and one of them will be proved wrong, at least in the short term, when the world championship is decided this weekend.

Horton and Paltrinieri have formed an unusually close friendship for such natural rivals, so close that the Italian will move to Melbourne temporarily so he can train with Horton from September to April next year.

“I think it’s a big opportunity for both of us to train together,’’ Paltrinieri said.

“I think we are very different so to train together is fun and I just want to change something right now. I think Melbourne is the right place.’’

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Mack Horton and Gregorio Paltrinieri have formed an unusually close friendship for such natural rivals

But for the next two days that friendship will be put aside. They will swim the 1500m freestyle heats on Saturday and, all going well, the final on Sunday.

“It would be nice if I am on the higher podium and he is on the lower one and I will look down on him,’’ Horton said last week.

Paltrinieri laughed when he heard that, and responded: “I’m saying the same.”

“He’s a big competitor. I would like to be on the podium with him but I would like to be at the top. It will be fun.’’

Horton withdrew from the 800m freestyle this week to keep himself fresh for the 1500m, after winning a silver medal in the 400m and swimming a personal best in the 200m.

Most of his key 1500m rivals took the opposite route. Olympic bronze medallist Gabriele Detti, also from Italy, won the 800m in a national record of 7:40.77, from rising distance threat Wojciech Wojdak of Poland (7:41.73) and Paltrinieri (7:42.44).

It’s safe to say that all three will be medal contenders in the metric mile, along with Horton.

“The result of the 800 gives an indication of where everyone is at,’’ Horton’s coach Craig Jackson said.

Australia's Mack Horton competes in a men's 400-meter freestyle

“I don’t’ think it was an unexpected result but the Polish guy was the surprise. He’s obviously on the radar now.’’

Paltrinieri leads this year’s 1500m world rankings with a time of 14:37.08, less than three seconds outside his Olympic gold medal time, from Detti (14:48.21) and Horton (14:51.21).

But Horton’s best is 14:39.54 from last year’s Olympic trials, and he believes strongly that he has yet to swim to his potential in the event.

“I haven’t really done a good international 1500 ever, so I just really want to nail that heat, easy as possible, and then try and lift for that final and post a good international time and give Greg (Paltrinieri, the Italian Olympic champion) a run for his money,’’ he said.

Jackson said the swimmer was still learning how to manage himself in major competition at last year’s Rio Olympics, where he won the 400m freestyle on the first day but faded out of the 1500m, to finish fifth.

“He’s a great athlete when it comes to learning,’’ Jackson said.

Horton faded out of the 1500m at the Rio Olympics to finish fifth.

“If he stumbles, he picks himself up and he will make changes to make sure that doesn’t happen again. He’s managed himself really well this week. We’ll see what comes out in the heats, and then make plans from there.”

Jackson said Horton was determined to win a global title in the 1500m.

“We have to see how the event plays out but I know that would be one of his disappointments from Rio, that he wasn’t able to achieve that goal and it’s given him quite a bit of motivation to step forward into the new four-year cycle,’’ he said.

“That is probably his next target, to achieve something like that. In his books, that would be a major achievement.’

As Horton said this week, he regards the 1500m as “the best event going’’.

“It’s probably the event with the strongest Australian history, it’s an event that I love and I haven’t really proven myself in yet so that’s something that I want to do.’’

He and Jackson have yet to settle on a strategy to achieve that ambition in Budapest.

They are debating whether to swim the event the “Australian way’’, taking the race hard from the beginning, or Paltrinieri’s way, which is building through the race.

“We have spoken about a few options and now we have seen the 800, it will be the subject of further discussion and after the heats we will make a clear decision on what we want to do,’’ Jackson said.

“At the end of the day it has to be a strategy he’s comfortable with and knows he can execute. He’s getting to an age now where he has to take ownership of things like that.’’

Originally published as Mack Horton ready to prove 1500m freestyle is ‘Australia’s race’ in showdown with Gregorio Paltrinieri