Australian distance great Grant Hackett added the 800m freestyle world record to his resume in scintillating fashion on Wednesday to claim the gold at the 11th World Swimming Championships.
”I feel like it was probably a perfectly swum race,” said Hackett, who opened an early gap on his rivals and relentlessly extended it.
Hackett’s time of seven minutes and 38,65 seconds sliced 51-hundredths of a second off the world record set by compatriot Ian Thorpe, who surged past Hackett in the final 100m to win the first world title ever awarded in the men’s 800m freestyle at Fukuoka, Japan, in 2001.
Hackett finished 6,98 seconds in front of American record-holder Larsen Jensen, who improved his own personal best with a time of 7:45,63.
Russia’s Yuri Prilukov took the bronze in 7:46,64 — a European record — but they barely seemed in the same pool as Hackett.
”With Grant that far ahead, I thought, ‘Damn, I hope he’s doing a world record,”’ Jensen said.
”Being out there by yourself is a little bit tougher and a bit more difficult to stay under that pace and constantly keep it up, but I’m just thrilled.”
Hackett said it was an honour to break a record held by Thorpe, who is skipping the 2005 world championships to refresh himself for his 2008 Olympic campaign.
”Getting one of Ian’s records is something to be proud of,” said Hackett, who claimed the world title for himself in Barcelona in 2003. ”He’s certainly one of the greatest athletes in history.”
Adding to the satisfaction was the knowledge that in two 800m freestyle races that produced world records for Thorpe — the Fukuoka final and the Australian trials earlier that year — Hackett was runner-up in what would have otherwise been world-record times.
”I’ve broken the world record twice and both times came second,” he said. ”I really wanted to push myself and get under that world record.”
At the 600m mark, Hackett was five seconds under Thorpe’s world-record pace, thrilling a crowd that braved afternoon rain at the Ile Sainte-Helene pool.
But Hackett (25) said that was largely a function of their different styles. Lacking Thorpe’s finishing speed, Hackett said, he knew he would have to be well under the record pace early to have a chance.
”There was no way I was coming home in 53,2,” he said.
Hackett claimed his second gold medal of the Montreal championships, after his triumph in the 400m freestyle, to go with his silver in the 200m freestyle.
Swimming’s undisputed distance king — world-record-holder in the 1 500m freestyle — now boasts a record career total of 15 world championship medals, and his six individual world titles match the record career tally of Thorpe.
He’s not finished in Montreal, either. Hackett will race the 4x200m freestyle relay for Australia as well as his signature event, the 1 500m freestyle.
”Now it’s time to settle myself down and focus on my main event,” he said.
The other three medals on offer Wednesday went to a trio of Europeans as the vaunted United States team settled for two silvers on the day.
Germany’s Mark Warnecke was perhaps the night’s most unlikely champion, claiming the 50m breaststroke title at the age of 35.
Warnecke, who failed to qualify to swim the 100m breaststroke at the Athens Olympics last year, clocked 27,63 seconds to capture the gold. American Mark Gangloff was second in 27,71 and Japan’s double Olympic breaststroke gold medallist Kosuke Kitajima was third in 27,78.
Warnecke, a medical doctor who specialises in treating trauma cases, said he overtrained in 2004, then misjudged his training taper for the German Olympic trials, but had a solid foundation to build on this year.
”It’s not from nothing,” he said of his performance.
Solenne Figues won the women’s 200m freestyle, giving France their second swimming gold of these championships after Laure Manaudou’s victory in the 400m freestyle.
Figues, the Olympic bronze medallist, won in 1:58,60. Italy’s Federica Pellegrini (16) earned the silver in 1:58,73, while China’s Yang Yu and Josefin Lillhage of Sweden shared the bronze, tying for third in 1:59,08.
Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski won the men’s 200m butterfly in 1:55,02. Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda, who came into the meet with the fastest time in the world this year, settled for silver in 1:55,62 and China’s Wu Peng took the bronze in 1:56,50.
The field in the 200m fly was depleted by the decision of world-record-holder Michael Phelps to skip the event in Montreal, part of his experiment in racing less familiar events.
Phelps advanced to two finals on Wednesday, posting the fifth-fastest time in the 100m freestyle semifinals and the second-fastest time in the 200m medley semis.
The US superstar also took in Hackett’s performance.
”As soon as I got over to the massage tent, Michael Phelps came up and congratulated me,” said an appreciative Hackett, who shortly after the race had yet to hear from Thorpe back in Australia. ”That just shows the level of ethics and professional standards in this sport.” — AFP
