World Swimming Championships: Mack Horton gets a scare in 1500m heats

Mack Horton will have to win from the outside lane if he is to claim the world 1500m freestyle title in Budapest tomorrow.

Mack Horton of Australia competes during the Men's 1500m Freestyle heats on day sixteen of the Budapest 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Mack Horton will have to do a Kieren Perkins at the 1996 Olympics and win from the outside lane if he is to claim the world 1500m freestyle title in Budapest in the early hours of Monday morning (AEST).

Horton slightly miscalculated what ended up being a slow heat today, clocking 14:59.24 and qualifying for the final but by just 0.2 sec.

Ukrainian surprise packet Mykhailo Romanchuk set a personal best time of 14:44.11 to qualify fastest just ahead of Olympic and world champion Gregorio Paltrinieri (14:44.31) with Olympic bronze medallist Gabriele Detti third through (14:50.10).

Horton was seventh fastest which means he will swim from lane one in the final, away from the centre of the action, but that didn’t faze him after the race.

“I thought we were a bit faster than that, I thought we were 14:55 or below,’’ he confessed.

“That was just a slow heat, but it felt pretty good. The first 600 I was super-chilled and then I picked it up. All I need is a lane.’’

“I just thought top two in that heat would be safe so that’s what I was aiming for.’’

It was safe but not without a moment of anxiety as five men swam faster in the final heat.

However, Horton said he was trying to save as much energy as possible for his looming battle with his friend and rival Paltrinieri in the final.

“They are wasting a lot of energy right now,’’ he said as he watched Paltrinieri and Romanchuk go head to head in their heat.

“I think that’s what caught me up in Rio. I just didn’t have that energy at the back end of the week. I got through the heat and that was easy but when I got to the final I was pretty cooked. It’s just been about conservation this week.’’

Horton’s challenge faded out towards the end of the Olympic final last year and he finished fifth in 14:49.54. But he is determined to get onto the podium tomorrow.

He said he and coach Craig Jackson would develop their final strategy based on their assessment of the heats today but it would be “a secret’’ until the race began.

Paltrinieri, who plans to come to Melbourne to train with Horton for seven months from September, said he would be keeping an eye out for the Australian in the final.

“I think he is a big competitor — he is in the final so I will look at him sometimes during the race because he is dangerous,’’ Paltrinieri said.

“But all the field is very dangerous — Romanchuk is swimming very well and Wojciech (Wojdak), two days ago he beat me (in the 800m final). So everyone. I just want to swim my race and do my best. I love Mack. But I want to beat him.”

Australia’s second entrant in the 1500m, Rio Olympian Jack McLoughlin was drawn in the same slow heat as Horton and just missed the cut, finishing 11th in 15:01.55.

Bronte Campbell prepares for a women's 50-meter freestyle heat. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Injured world champion Bronte Campbell and her teenage training partner Shayna Jack both progressed to tonight’s 50m freestyle semi-finals.

Pre-event favourite Sarah Sjostrom set the pace (24.08sec) from Olympic champion Pernille Blume (24.32sec), while Campbell was fifth fastest (24.61sec) and Jack 12th (24.85sec).

Campbell confessed that due to her shoulder injury she had done very little pure speed work and said this event would be a “lucky dip’’ for her.

“Everyone is a bit rusty after the 100 (final last night), you could see that this morning,’’ she said.

“I’m just glad to be through to the semi. It’s going to be abnormally quick to get through to the final.

“To be honest, I’ve had very little opportunity to do speed work just because the painkiller drugs I was on dulled that (reaction). I’m off them now, I got off them just before I came here but I’ve done very little 50 work. That’s how it had to be this prep.’’

Jack, 18, started out as a 50m specialist before moving up to the 100m and she was happy to get her first individual swim at this level.

“It was a great opportunity for me,’’ she said.

“I just went into it thinking, it’s my only individual event, have fun with it and having Bronte right next to me in the lane made me feel like I was just at home. I was very comfortable, I wasn’t too nervous.’’

She hopes to swim fast enough to reach the final tonight.

Former world champion Mitch Larkin’s week continued throw up challenges as he missed the semi-finals in the 50m backstroke, two days after missing the final of the 200m backstroke.

Larkin, who won the 100m and 200m in Kazan two years ago, came into this meet knowing he didn’t have the preparation behind him to retain his titles given a long post-competition break and a change of coach.

However he was still shocked to be eliminated in the semi-finals of the 200m, his pet event.

“I planned for all options this week and I prepared for the worst case scenario which is probably this’’ he said.

“But being here this week and experiencing it is a lot tougher than I would have liked.

“I haven’t tried to think about it too much. It’s still quite raw and when it’s fresh you tend to exaggerate things and make them worse than they are.

“I’m trying to focus on my swims still to come this week. I’ve got the relay tomorrow. It’s a good team and a nice way to finish the meet. Once we can get home we can reassess things and look at what went well and what to work on.

“Simon said to be patient. It takes 18 months usually to settle into a new program and adjust. I always knew it was going to be a challenge coming here. I didn’t want to accept that it was going to be difficult.’’

After this week, Larkin is doing a charity swimming meet in Rome and then he will contest all eight rounds of the World Cup.

Larkin said he hoped to find his “groove’’ again through an extended competitive season.

He said he had faith that his new coaching relationship with Simon Cusack, coach of the Campbell sisters, would work out eventually.

“Looking back to the end of 2015 when I was swimming 52s (for 100m) constantly I look back now and think that was incredible,’’ he said.

“I want to get back there, and I know I will, I know I can. I’m not too bothered. It’s just about wading through the tougher times.’’