Grant shows who’s boss at swim trials

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Insatiable distance champion Grant Hackett is renowned as being a glutton for punishment.

But it is the rest of the competition feeling the pain at this week’s world championship swimming trials as the re-energised Queenslander gobbles up his opposition.

The lanky 24-year-old motored to his third freestyle title of the week by winning the 800m freestyle in a canter in seven minutes and 43.16 seconds in Sydney.

He was four seconds off Ian Thorpe’s world record and led the Gold Coast’s Miami club to the top four places with Canadian-turned-Australian Kurtis MacGillivary booking a flight to his former home country in July.

1500m master Hackett now needs only to win his pet event on Saturday night to become the first man to win four Australian freestyle titles since Olympic bronze medallist Justin Lemberg in 1984.

Hackett’s struggle to win the 1500m at last year’s Athens Games had many believing it was only a matter of time before American Larsen Jensen or Welshman David Davies ended the superstar’s nine-year reign in the event.

However Hackett is swimming as well as ever after recovering from his well-publicised health problems last year.

He said he was really looking forward to the 1500m and that lowering his world record of 14.34.56s set at the 2001 world championships was not out of the question in Montreal.

“I would not say at this stage, but at world championships it is probably not that unrealistic if I had a good preparation,” Hackett said.

He comfortably won the 200m and 400m national titles in Ian Thorpe’s absence this week and the Thorpedo’s no-show has not slowed down the dual Olympic gold medallist.

A wary Hackett has also dropped the 200m from his schedule to give himself the opportunity of an unprecedented 400m, 800m, 1500m treble in Canada.

“I felt really comfortable the whole way,” he said of the 800m.

“I felt I was in really good rhythm and it is nice to do my first real distance swim since that 1500 in Athens and it felt about ten times as easy.” Hackett’s clubmate MacGillivary (7:58.97) changed nationalities on Australia Day this year after a falling out with Canadian officials over non-Olympic selection last year.

“I am glad to be on the Australian team, it has been a dream of mine for a while now,” said MacGillivary with a strong Canadian twang.

Mackay marvel Linda MacKenzie (1:58.70) defended her 200m freestyle title by chasing down Ballarat’s Shayne Reese (1:59.28) in the final lap.

The 400m national champion has rebounded at this meet from her disappointing time in Greece last year.

“It is always good to come back like this, I was a bit out in taper and everything was not going too right at the Olympics,” MacKenzie said. “But I think I know how to work things out at the moment.” West Australian Travis Nederpelt (1:57.07) took out the men’s 200m butterfly and recently-engaged AIS swimmer Andrew Richards (1:57.48) found a reason for another celebration with his second place earning him a world championship berth.

Former world record holder Michael Klim (49.28) earlier showed he was not washed up as a sprinting force by qualifying fastest for Wednesday’s 100m freestyle final.

However the dual Olympic gold medallist admitted it would be a battle for the Australian sprinters to post a qualifying time to allow a 4×100m relay team to be sent to Canada.

On semi-finals time, they would miss out by just under two seconds.

“It is tough, we’ve got to average 49.6, even my standard is not very high,” Klim said.

“I am the fastest at 49.2 which is not a good time, but we can improve.” 100m national champion Brent Rickard (28.02) continued his sizzling form in the men’s breaststroke by lowering his 50m national record by 0.11s.