Olympic great Mack Horton’s international career is on the ropes after he bombed out for the second day in a row at the world championship trials in Melbourne.
Horton hasn’t missed selection for an Australian senior team since he made his debut for the Dolphins in 2014 but the 27-year-old is suddenly in real danger of being left off the squad for next month’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Needing to finish top two to get a spot in the 400m freestyle – his signature event that he famously won at the 2016 Rio Olympics – Horton came third behind young guns Sam Short and Elijah Winnington.
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He had a second shot in the 200m freestyle, needing to finish top six to make the relay, but only managed 22nd.
His final chance of making the team is in Thursday’s 800m freestyle, where he needs to finished first or second and go under the strict qualifying time, but the odds are stacked against him because he’s up against another strong field.
No-one is writing him off yet because he’s a fighter, but if he does miss out, it’s possible that he could rethink his future plans, because he has nothing left to prove.
Horton has already been an inspiration to the next generation that are following in his slipstream.
“Mack was my hero as an age group swimmer,” said Winnington, the reigning world champion in 400m freestyle.
“He was at the top of the age group as I was just coming in and then obviously watching him do what he did in Rio and the years after that, even the years before that, it was a massive inspiration to me to even be on the team with Mack.
“I always looked up to him, so obviously he‘s still going and it’s sad not to see him in it. But there’s a new generation coming and it’s just got to keep getting faster. And that’s the way the sport rolls.”
Horton became a national hero with his heart-stopping victory over China’s Sun Yang in the 400m final in Rio, then a global statesmen for his brave stance against the sport’s lax approach to tackling doping when he refused to stand on the medal podium at the 2019 world championships.
Horton’s coach Michael Bohl said his legacy as an all-time great was assured no matter what comes next.
“Let‘s see what happens, he’s still got the 800m, but he’s just been great to work with,” Bohl said.
“He‘s getting married this year, I think. He‘s got a great partner, great parents, he’s a lovely person.
“He‘s won an Olympic gold medal. He hasn’t got anything to prove to anyone.
“He‘s enjoying his swimming. He’s loving it. He’s a popular member of our group. Everyone loves him.”
MACK’S TOUGHEST TEST: COULD THIS BE END FOR AN AUSSIE LEGEND?
Regardless of whether he makes the Australian team or not, Mack Horton just can’t lose at this week’s world championship trials.
Father time catches up with every great swimmer eventually, and while Horton is still only 27, he’s now facing the biggest battle of his career to qualify in his pet event, the 400 metres freestyle.
No-one will dare write him off yet because he’s proven time and time again that he’s a born fighter who can overcome any challenge, but he’s going to have to produce something special to qualify.
The problem is not with Horton, who is still among the world’s best in the gruelling event; it’s the strict rules on how many swimmers each country can pick.
The test will come at Tuesday night’s final at Melbourne’s Aquatic centre, which has the makings of a classic.
The 400m freestyle has always been Australia’s signature swimming event but this race could be one for the ages, because Horton, Winnington and Short occupy three of the top four Australian rankings of all time. Only Ian Thorpe has gone faster.
If Horton does end up as the odd one out, he can take some comfort in knowing he was the inspiration behind the next generation that are following in his slipstream.
Australian middle-distance swimming went through a bit of a lull after Thorpe and Grant Hackett hung up their goggles a decade and a half ago but the quietly spoken, bespectacled Horton made it cool again.
He became a national hero with his heart-stopping performance to win the 400m gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, then a global statesmen for his brave stance against the sport’s lax approach to tackling doping when he refused to join Sun Yang on the medal podium at the 2019 world championships.
James Magnussen, the double world champion in 100m freestyle, said Horton will always be remembered as a champion for the ages no matter what happens next.
“We‘ve got a really cool scenario, which is the past, the present and the future all coming together at the same time,” Magnussen said.
“This is something that Mack should be proud of.
“Of course, it‘s a hard pill to swallow because some of them are nipping at his heels and some of them are beating him, but that’s the legacy that he’ll leave to swimming when he does retire, all these young swimmers that are doing the event because of him.”
Although he won the biggest prize in swimming at Rio, Horton has never won a senior world title in any of his individual events, though he has come close plenty of times.
He won silver medals in the 400m in 2017 and 2019 as well as bronze over 800m in 2015 and 1500m in 2017.
But Horton did win a world championship gold medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay in 2019, and will still have another roll of the dice at making the Australian team in the relay team for next month’s world titles in Fukuoka, Japan, irrespective of where he finishes in the 400m.
Fukuoka holds a special place in Australian swimming history because that’s the only time the Dolphins have finished on the top of the medal standings, scooping up 13 golds when the world titles were held there in 2001, including victories in the 4x200m and a one-two finish in the 400m.
“We‘ve always had solid depth in the 400 freestyle, but we haven’t had those really standout world class top two or three since Hackett and Thorpe,” Magnussen said.
“Now, we’ve got three, maybe four people that could medal at the world championships so it’s really gone to the next level and that’s because of Mack.”
AUSTRALIA’S ALL-TIME FASTEST 400M FREESTYLE SWIMMERS
Ian Thorpe 3:40.08
Elijah Winnington 3:41.22
Mack Horton 3:41.55
Sam Short 3:42.46
Grant Hackett 3:42.15
