Ian Thorpe backs Grant Hackett to make Rio Olympics after Hackett makes 400m final at Aust. trials

AUSTRALIA’S most successful Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe has given Grant Hackett’s comeback the thumbs up, believing he will make the team for Rio.

ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA - APRIL 07: Grant Hackett of Australia signals to the crowd after competing in the 400 Freestyle during day one of the 2016 Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Championships at South Australian Aquatic & Leisure Centre on April 7, 2016 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

AUSTRALIA’S most successful Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe has given Grant Hackett’s comeback the thumbs up, believing he will make the team for Rio at the age of 35.

Speaking after Hackett’s strong heat swim to qualify fourth fastest for the 400m freestyle final on the first night of the Olympic trials in Adelaide, Thorpe said his former long-time rival and team-mate should make the team as part of the 4x200m freestyle relay.

To do so, Hackett will probably have to finish top four in Saturday night’s 200m freestyle final.

“I think he can do it,” Thorpe said, stressing that Hackett would have peak mentally as much as physically to get to Rio. “The 200m is going to be a tough race but I think his prospects are strong.

Grant Hackett gives the thumbs up after qualifying for the 400m final at the Olympic trials in Adelaide on Thursday night.

“The closer he gets the more pressure he’ll feel but it’s a not a one or the other. it’s equally a balance, getting the physical part to work at this exact week of the year, and being able to deal with all those expectations and pressures.”

Thorpe, who was Hackett’s nemesis over 400m during a golden eight year period for Australian swimming, had his own unsuccessful comeback attempt four years ago and has used that experience to mentor Hackett in his bid to become Australia’s oldest Olympic swimmer.

“I’ve really enjoyed being there for Grant and I think it’s been good for me to be able to say to him, ‘well, this worked for me, and this was important in my preparation’.”

So why does he believe Hackett’s bid to make the team will succeed when his failed?

“I don’t know. Maybe I should say because I’ve been helping him out ... but then I look at how I went and maybe that’s not such a good thing,” he joked.

“Grant’s done a really good job at being able to get both endurance and his speed up. For me it took a lot more time. The endurance came quickly but I wasn’t able to find the speed as quickly.”

Grant Hackett (left) and Ian Thorpe after Thorpe won gold and Hackett silver in the 200m freestyle at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Hackett came fourth in the 400m freestyle final on Thursday night and a growing belief that he can become Australia’s oldest-ever Olympic swimmer.

Hackett did not come to Adelaide planning to make his fourth Olympic team as a 400m swimmer. It was always about earning a place in the 200m freestyle relay.

Two good 400m swims on day one of the Olympic trials were a bonus, but he was not prepared to sacrifice a possible relay spot for an improbable individual berth.

When eventual winner Mack Horton, 19, and the rest of the country’s best young 400m swimmers turned on the gas in the final it was obvious that Hackett was not going to bust a gut chasing them with a 200m heat some 12 hours away, a semi-final Friday night and the final on Saturday night.

“Once they get a certain lead on you there’s no point smashing yourself,” he said. “I had a couple of good 400m swims and it gives me confidence for the 200m.

“It’s not like it absolutely killed me. I didn’t touch the wall and feel zonked.”

The quality of Hackett’s 400m performances and the sight of his new-look tapered sprinters’ physique gave his many supporters new hope of an Olympic berth, but he was not getting carried away.

“I don’t feel any different about my chances (than before the 400m swims),” he said. “I just feel like I know what I have to do each day to get myself up and racing.

“I can’t control how fast everyone else is going to swim. I could have a stellar result and finish seventh. For me it’s just a day at a time and I’ll focus on that and see where that takes me.

“Hopefully it takes me on a plane to Rio.”

Despite failing in his attempt to make the team for London eight years after his last Olympics – the same period that Hackett has been out of Olympic competition - Thorpe remains a believer in comebacks.

“You have to understand that there’s a lot of different reasons why you do it,” he said. “For me I wanted to be able to swim again and love my sport the way I did when I was younger and I was able to get that back, so for me that was enough. I would have loved to go to another Olympics, so I understand that, but we often try to project what we want, rather than what the individual wants to do.

“If Grant is able to make it, for everyone else it’s a good thing, for the whole team, and I hope he can sneak his way in there.”

Originally published as Ian Thorpe backs Grant Hackett to make Rio Olympics after Hackett makes 400m final at Aust. trials