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Thorpe and Hackett Primed For 800m Showdown

Mar 25, 2001  - Ian Hanson

Olympic champion Ian Thorpe clocked the second fastest time in history when he won his fourth consecutive Australian 400m freestyle championship in Hobart on Monday night and he is now primed for a classic 800m showdown with arch rival Grant Hackett in what will be one of the major highlights of the 2001 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships on Monday night.

Thorpe and Hackett were back in the pool today (Sunday) in the 800m freestyle heats - the event now a major priority on this year's World Championship program.

Hackett clocked 8:08.27 to win his heat and Thorpe actually clocked a personal best time of 8:09.95 - the first time he has swum the event - to set up a classic confrontation with Hackett.

Kieren Perkins world record of 7:46.00 - set on the way through to his 1500m world record at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, is very much under siege.

If Thorpe's 400m time last night is any indication then another world record to the Thorpedo could well be on the cards. Thorpe clocked a time of 3:40.76 to finish just 0.17 outside his own world record, which he set at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

The 18-year-old is the first swimmer to win four consecutive 400m freestyle championships since John Konrads dominated the event between 1958-1961.

Thorpe now owns the three fastest times in history over 400m and defeated a gallant Grant Hackett (3:45.46) by almost five seconds. Thorpe's split times were: 53.88, 1:50.12, 2:45.56.

His Sutherland Leisure Centre training partner Craig Stevens claimed the bronze medal in 3:56.66, which may be an indicator to an impressive 1500m for the Sydney youngster.

"I was happy, very happy with it. I wasn't sure how fast I would swim but I was very happy with my preparation. I was pleased swimming close to me best time," Thorpe said.

"I know that I have trained well, but until you step up onto the blocks and race you are never 100 percent sure. I place quite a deal of importance on this meet and in that race I was glad to see I'm back swimming where I was.

"I wasn't planning on swimming it differently to the Olympics. I went out with the intention of going out quite moderately and putting it up another gear in the last 100m."

While Thorpe received the plaudits it was Western Australia's Jennifer Reilly who claimed the first gold medal of the evening.

Reilly won her third consecutive National Title, stopping the clock at 4:46.35, ahead of Megan McMahon (4:52.44) and Yvette Rodier (4:55.79). While happy to have claimed gold, Reilly was slightly disappointed with the time.

In semi final action Olympic silver medallist Leisel Jones (1:08.65) qualified fastest for the women's 100m breaststroke final, Ashley Callus will have lane four in the 50m freestyle final after touching in 22.73, Matt Welsh clocked 55.08 to qualify fastest in the 100m backstroke and Petria Thomas set the pool alight with a 2:07.32 to be the quickest in the 200m butterfly.

The star of the Paralympics, Siobhan Paton claimed her first gold medal of the meet and the first official Australian Swimming Championships title for swimmers with a disability, taking out the Women's 100m backstroke Multi-Disability event.

The girl dubbed the Princess of the Pool after winning six gold medals at the Paralympics clocked a time of 1:10.82 while fellow Paralympian Stewart Pike took out the Men's 100m backstroke in 1:10.23.