Morning Splash: Mack Horton Has Something to Prove in Wide-Open 400 Free

Photo Courtesy: Swimming Australia

Editorial Coverage Sponsored By FINIS

By David Rieder

One year ago, Australia’s Mack Horton entered the World Championships as the top seed in the men’s 400 free. He had swum a 3:42.84 at Australia’s National Championships, the fastest time swum in the event in three years.

Horton had made his senior international debut a year earlier at the Commonwealth Games, where he won a bronze medal in the 1500 free, but Worlds gave Horton his first chance to shine with all eyes pointed his way.

But then illness struck, and Horton struck out. He ended up finishing 11th in the 400 free in 3:47.37, and the final went off without him. China’s Sun Yang ended up winning a second-straight World title in the event in 3:42.58, and Great Britain’s James Guy finished second in 3:43.75, slower than Horton’s time from a few months earlier.

Horton also missed the final of the 1500 free (which he entered as the second seed behind Gregorio Paltrinieri), and although he salvaged one medal in the 800 free (a bronze), it was a very disappointing World Championships debut for the then-19-year-old.

But only eight months later, Horton was again lighting up the domestic scoreboard with eye-opening times at Australia’s Olympic Trials. He won the 400 free in 3:41.65, the top time in the world this year. Only once since London four years ago has someone swum faster, and that was in 2013, when Sun won the 400 free at the World Championships in 3:41.59.

Horton impressed in the 1500 as well, becoming just the sixth man in history to crack the 14:40-barrier with his 14:39.54. But that event will present a major challenge for a gold medal—Italy’s Paltrinieri posted the second-fastest time in history in May with a 14:34.04, and Sun figures to present a major challenge as well.

But the 400 free is wide open. Seven men have legitimate medal chances—along with Horton and Sun, there’s 2008 gold medalist Park Tae Hwan of South Korea, Canada’s Ryan Cochrane, USA’s Connor Jaeger, Italy’s Gabriele Detti and Canada’s Ryan Cochrane.

But as tight and competitive of a field as this shape up to be, Horton has as much talent as any of his competition. Sun seems to consider Horton a threat after going out of his way to distract the young Aussie in the warmup pool Thursday. Horton, still only 20 years old, is the youngest of any of the major competitors in the field and has some serious potential for improvement.

If a young Australian entering the Olympics as a favorite in the 400 free sounds familiar, it should. Ian Thorpe was just 17 and already one of his country’s biggest stars at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He went into his first Olympic final as the big favorite for gold, and he came through, winning by almost three seconds and setting a new world record.

But while Thorpe arrived in Sydney already a World Champion in the event, Horton might still have big-meet demons to exorcise after what happened in Kazan last summer. But it will only take two great swims, one early this afternoon and one tonight, for Horton to totally wipe away those bad memories.

**In case it was not pretty clear, it’s an easy pick for best race for day one in Rio. Neither the 400 IM final figure to feature any major upsets—on the men’s side, only four men have broken 4:10 in the past two years, and Katinka Hosszu will be in the spotlight in the women’s equivalent. The Australians are heavily favored to dominate the women’s 400 free relay.

Today’s program also includes preliminary and semifinal action in the women’s 100 fly and men’s 100 breast—and it would be a major upset if Sarah Sjostrom and Adam Peaty do not lead the way in their events by respectable margins.

And then there’s the 400 free, which could be Horton’s breakthrough moment, or it could be Sun or Park taking yet another turn in the sun, or it could be someone like Guy who breaks through.

Who’s going to be the one to push the pace and make everyone chase him? (At Worlds last year, it was Guy.) Who’s on form, and who’s struggling? Since the 400 free is only the second final of the meet, no one knows yet.

So even though this event has not had quite the hype of some of the other races coming later in the week at the Olympic Aquatic Center—think the women’s 200 free or men’s 200 IM—and the favorites might not be the sexiest of names, this one figures to be quite entertaining.

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