Mack Horton tipped to be first since Hackett to win treble

Mack Horton should tonight become the first man since Grant Hackett to win the 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle treble.

Mack Horton is congratulated by Kyle Chalmers after winning the 200m freestyle. Picture: Getty Images

Barring an upset, Mack Horton will tonight become the first man since Grant Hackett 12 years ago to win the 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle treble at the Australian championships.

Olympic 400m freestyle gold medallist Horton already has the first two titles in hand, after surprising himself when he hijacked the favourites to win his first 200m title in Brisbane on Monday, and now he has turned his attention to his favourite event, the 1500m.

Horton, 20, has made it his mission this year to revive Australia’s golden record in the 1500m, the event Australian swimmers dominated internationally for most of last century but not the past decade. He is intent on going toe to toe with the new king of the event, his friend Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy, for the world title in Budapest in July.

Horton’s coach, Craig Jackson, has altered his training program this year to improve his endurance with an eye specifically to the 1500m, after illness prevented him from giving his best in the event at the Rio Olympics.

They even factored in a hard training session yesterday morning to make up for the absence of 1500m heats.

The 1500m will be held as a timed final tonight as part of the reduced five-day program Swimming Australia has adopted this year, so Horton wanted to replicate the physical effort that will be required of him at the world titles.

“It wasn’t a full-blown 1500 or anything like that, it was some pace work, intense enough that he felt like he had got back up and raced this morning,’’ Jackson explained.

They had yet to decide yesterday what strategy they would take into the race. Horton said last week there were only two ways to swim the race, “the Australian way’’ (out fast and try to hold on) or the “Gregorio’’ way (start steady and build into the race for a strong finish).

Eventually, they hope that Horton can use a blend of both.

Jackson said Horton’s training this year had been designed to improve his finish.

However, what he’s particularly looking for is for the swimmer to regain confidence in racing the event after he faded out in the Olympic final.

“My goal is for him to come out of this with a positive swim knowing we have another three months of preparation ahead of us and we can springboard forward into the worlds,’’ Jackson said.

“It’s his first full go at a 1500 since Rio. I’m hoping that what he feels is that he’s stronger in the back half of the race and that will show he’s moving in the right direction.’’

Based on the racing this week, Horton will not have the 1500m all his own way. Fellow Rio Olympian Jack McLoughlin has also shown strong form in the shorter races, finishing third in the 400m in 3:46.96, just a touch outside his personal best.

McLoughlin’s best 1500m time is 14:48.60 from last year’s Olympics, so Horton must assume he will have to go faster than that to win the title.

“I think Jack’s proved he’s a contender at trials last year and looking at the races he’s had so far this year, he’s in good shape,’’ Jackson said.

Jackson said Horton had taken some racing confidence out of his unexpected 200m freestyle victory.

The distance specialist was beaten at every stage in that race until he touched the wall, in a finish reminiscent of some of Michael Phelps’ miraculous victories. “The rest of the boys didn’t push the button hard enough early enough to take him out of the mix — they gave him the opportunity to do that,’’ Jackson said.

“The big thing about him is that he holds his efficiency better than everybody else in the back end. When most of the other guys under fatigue are losing their stroke length, he’s still holding good water and maintaining that speed and momentum into the wall.’’

Horton now has first option to swim the individual 200m freestyle at the world titles but has yet to decide if he will take up that opportunity.

“I have to look at the balance of things because there’s the (4x200m freestyle) relay to consider as well and I want to see what’s coming out of the rest of the world in the 200,’’ Jackson said. “If he’s not going to be competitive then we won’t do it.’’