 |
|
| Mack
HORTON |
| Sport |
Swimming |
| NOC |
Australia
|
| Gender | Men |
| Born | 25 Apr 1996
in Melbourne, AUS |
| Height | 1.90 m |
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|
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|
General Interest |
Other information |
CHANGE OF COACH
In October 2021 he parted ways with his long-time coach Craig Jackson and joined Michael Bohl's training group at Griffith University in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. "I've been with Craig for 12 or 13 years, it's all I've known really. I'm 25 now, I'll be 28 in Paris [the 2024 Olympic Games]. That could be it, who knows. But if I've only got three years left I want to try something new. Michael looked after me in Tokyo [the 2020 Olympic Games] and Gwangju [the 2019 World Championships]. It's different, I was still doing Craig's work, so this will be a different experience. This is a full move." (brisbanetimes.com.au, 04 Nov 2021; swimmingworldmagazine.com, 12 Oct 2021; stateofswimming.com, 12 Oct 2021)
TOKYO MEDAL
He competed in the heats of the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, but was not selected for the Australian team that placed third in the final. Having swum in the heats, he still received a bronze medal. "It's going to sound bad, but I don't feel like I should actually have it to be honest. I just didn't swim very well over there. My team contribution wasn't as great as other people's. And, yeah, I don't know, it's difficult being in a relay. You have a team in the heat and a team in the final and you have people swimming off to get into the final. And I felt I was capable of doing that and getting through to the final team and I wanted obviously to be a part of that. I didn't swim fast enough in the heat so I didn't have the opportunity to try and push everyone in the final. It's bitter sweet. It's a medal, but it's not one that I'm that stoked with." (foxsports.com.au, 11 Aug 2021)
PODIUM PROTEST
After winning silver in the 400m freestyle at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, he refused to stand on the podium alongside the event's winner, Chinese swimmer Sun Yang. At the time of the event Sun was awaiting a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] over a possible anti-doping violation. Horton was sent a warning letter by the International Swimming Federation [FINA] after the incident. (apnews.com, 13 May 2021)
OTHER ACTIVITIES
He has carried out public speaking roles for sports promotion projects such as 'Olympics Unleashed', which is managed by the Australian Olympic Committee, and supports water safety campaigns in Australia such as the Keep Watch pool safety campaign. He has also worked as an analyst at Commonwealth Bank in Australia. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Apr 2021; Twitter profile, 25 Nov 2020; optus.com.au, 25 Nov 2020; racv.com.au, 09 Dec 2020) |
Injuries |
He caught a virus caused by a parasitic bug at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russian Federation, which affected his performances at the tournament. He was still able to win a bronze medal in the 800m freestyle. (swimswam.com, 05 Feb 2016) |
Further Personal Information |
Higher education |
Business, Commerce - La Trobe University: Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
General Interest |
Memorable sporting achievement |
Winning gold in the 400m freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (Wynstan with a Y! YouTube channel, 06 Jun 2021) |
Most influential person in career |
His family, and coach Craig Jackson. (gc2018.com, 01 Oct 2017) |
Further Personal Information |
Residence |
Gold Coast, QLD, AUS |
General Interest |
Hobbies |
Surfing, sailing, spending time with friends and family. (Wynstan with a Y! YouTube channel, 06 Jun 2021) |
Sport Specific Information |
Club / Team |
Griffith University: Brisbane, QLD, AUS |
Why this sport? |
He began swimming to overcome his fear of water. |
General Interest |
Hero / Idol |
Australian swimmer Grant Hackett. (vis.org.au, 09 Apr 2014) |
Awards and honours |
In June 2018 he was presented with the Nicole Livingstone trophy as the 2017/18 Victorian Swimmer of the Year by Swimming Victoria in Australia. He also won the John Marshall trophy for his freestyle performances during the season. (swimswam.com, 19 Jun 2018; vic.swimming.org.au, 19 Jun 2018)
In 2014 he was named Discovery of the Year by Swimming Australia. (swimswam.com, 23 Dec 2014) |
Sport Specific Information |
Name of coach |
Michael Bohl [club]; Rohan Taylor [national] |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
He took up the sport at age 10. |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Athlete, Public Speaker |
Languages |
English |
General Interest |
Nicknames |
The Knife (swimvortex.com, 10 Apr 2015) |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"I focus on being the best swimmer that I can be, and at the end of the day, it's really me versus myself. As with every other athlete - it's all a head game." (thewest.com.au, 14 Apr 2021) |
Olympic Games |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| |
2021 |
Tokyo, JPN |
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay |
|
| 1 |
2016 |
Rio de Janeiro, BRA |
400m Freestyle |
3:41.55 |
| 5 |
2016 |
Rio de Janeiro, BRA |
1500m Freestyle |
14:49.54 |
| 4 |
2016 |
Rio de Janeiro, BRA |
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay |
7:04.18 |
World Championships |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| Heats |
2022 |
Budapest, HUN |
400m Freestyle |
3:46.57 |
| 2 |
2022 |
Budapest, HUN |
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay |
7:03.50 |
| Heats |
2019 |
Gwangju, KOR |
800m Freestyle |
7:52.65 |
| 2 |
2019 |
Gwangju, KOR |
400m Freestyle |
3:43.17 |
| 1 |
2019 |
Gwangju, KOR |
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay |
7:00.85 |
| Semifinal |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
200m Freestyle |
1:46.81 |
| 3 |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
1500m Freestyle |
14:47.70 |
| Heats |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
800m Freestyle |
DNS |
| 2 |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
400m Freestyle |
3:43.85 |
| 4 |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay |
7:05.98 |
| Heats |
2015 |
Kazan, RUS |
1500m Freestyle |
15:00.51 |
| 3 |
2015 |
Kazan, RUS |
800m Freestyle |
7:44.02 |
| Heats |
2015 |
Kazan, RUS |
400m Freestyle |
3:47.37 |
World Championships Short Course |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 9 |
2022 |
Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
800m Freestyle |
7:40.64 |
| 6 |
2022 |
Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
400m Freestyle |
3:37.94 |
| 2 |
2022 |
Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay |
6:46.54 |
World Cup |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 12 |
2018 |
|
Overall Ranking |
|
| 1 |
2018 |
Budapest, HUN |
400m Freestyle |
3:41.78 |
| 1 |
2018 |
Budapest, HUN |
1500m Freestyle |
14:39.84 |
| 6 |
2018 |
Budapest, HUN |
200m Freestyle |
1:44.27 |
| 1 |
2018 |
Eindhoven, NED |
400m Freestyle |
3:39.52 |
| 3 |
2018 |
Eindhoven, NED |
200m Freestyle |
1:43.63 |
| 1 |
2018 |
Singapore, SGP |
400m Freestyle |
3:41.44 |
| 1 |
2018 |
Singapore, SGP |
1500m Freestyle |
14:44.22 |
| 1 |
2018 |
Tokyo, JPN |
400m Freestyle |
3:40.58 |
| 7 |
2018 |
Tokyo, JPN |
200m Freestyle |
1:47.43 |
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