"He raced through the first 100 meters in 54.38 seconds, faster than John Devitt swam to win the 100-meter gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. He reached the 200 in 1:51.89, almost a second quicker than Mark Spitz when he broke the 200 record at the 1972 Munich Games. "
“He reached the halfway mark in 3:47.17, faster than Jörg Hoffman swam to win the 400 as recently as the 1991 world championships.”
“…although his blistering early speed was starting to take its toll, he had enough in reserve to break the record by more than half a second, stopping the clock at 7:38.65.”
“Larsen Jensen finished a distant second in 7:45.63 but still sliced two seconds off the American record while Russia’s Yuri Prilukov set a European record to take third in 7:46.64.”
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That last excerpt puts Hackett’s accomplishment into perspective!!! Second place had an amazing swim and was a helluva a long way behind!!!
That was an awesom swim to see. He was all alone jsut about the entire race and really picked it up the second half. Fox has been showing the FINA championships all week and they have been great.
I couldn’t imagine Bekele or El G running the first 800 split in what would have been a world record in the 70’s on their way to a new 3000 meter record.
Time wise the 4:1 factor tends to be very close for swimming:running at equal distance, but the body seems to be capable of grandeur feats in swimming. Wierd, but cool. Plus swimmers are almost invariably hotter.
I have raced in many sports and in my opinion the pain associated with swim racing far exceeds that of perhaps all other sports. No only are your muscles burning from lactic acid build up, but you also have to endure oxygen deprevation which is something you don’t endure in the other sports. Can you imagine running a 5 km race and being forced to breath at specific intervals and not when your body craves the air?!?!?! Anyone that has been in swim meets can attest to the fact that puking after a swim race is not uncommon.
The pain associated with swimming the mile fast, is unmatched in sports. Many many people puking from lactic acid build up. Maybe the oxygen debt is why distance swimmers like to breath on 2s instead of 3s
Grant Hackett is a MAJOR stud. I can’t wait for Thrope to get back into some international meets. 10 years ago though, its was Kieren Perkins destorying the world in the mile. 1994 Common Wealth games, he set the 800m and 1500m world record, in the same SWIM!!! Second place was 25m back! That’s UBER studly!!!
Hackett is an accomplished swimmer and it is a truly remarkable event when one breaks the world record. But, his pacing here is certainly not to be admired.
Had he paced his swim appropriately, he would likely have gone faster…
3:47 / 3:51 by 400s is pretty good pacing. Less than a 2% change in pace from the first half to the second half. The Australians have done extensive testing and have found that Hackett swims better if he goes out and then just holds on. Some athletes are different. When I was swimming I found I was better at the go out and hold it style whereas one of my best friends was the exact opposite - if he didn’t build into his race he fell apart.
The way the world record came back in the last 100 is because Thorpe came back like a freight train when he set the record. Thorpe would have gained more than 3 seconds on Hackett in the last 100.
Hackett doesn’t get enough credit. Undefeated in his feature event in 9 years? Racing a relative sprint like the 200 and getting a medal? That is like one of the kenyans getting a medal in the 400 on the track. (okay maybe not quite but you get the point). Unfortunately for him, Thorpe is the better swimmer from their generation. (I see Phelps as the leader of the next generation of athletes).
3:47 / 3:51 by 400s is pretty good pacing. Less than a 2% change in pace from the first half to the second half. You pick up about 2 seconds in the first half of any swimming race because of the start so he was really only 2 second slower over the second half of the race, which is fairly close to an even split. It was certainly a remarkable race to see; after 300 meters it was clear that everyone else was racing for second.
My apologiies - I had not reviewed the splits (54, 58, 58, 58, 58, 58, 59, 56) - Not too bad.
However, Hackett did lose the 800 at the 2001 World championships in Japan to Thorpe (when Thorpe broke Kieren Perkins record, no?) . In my view, the 800 has been a largely Australian event for the past 15 years or more. I think Grant Hackett is a fabulous swimmer, but perhaps not to caliber of those who dominate the short races. When Ian Thrope broke the record, I believe his training was tapered more for middle distance events (ie the 400). I really hope that the “popularity” of distance events comes back before Bejing.
Me too…I would rather watch the entire 14+ minutes of the mile then the 20+ of the 50m free. Got to say I am itchin to see thorpe and hackett slug it out in the 400m at bejing!!! Please swimming gods, please!!!
In my opinion Hackett’s premier event is the 1500 and that is what I was referring to. The 800 wasn’t contested at world’s (by men) until 2001.
I loved it that CBC showed the whole 800 last night, my wife came in and wanted me to help her with something. I said once the 800 is over, thinking they would cut out and then back in. 8 minutes later, I was in trouble.
As a former distance guy, I get sick of watching 50s all the time.
I am heading down this weekend to watch the waterpolo finals and the finals on Saturday and Sunday. Get to see the 1500 final!!
Glen Houseman is the one athlete in history that I truly feel sorry for. Shattering the world record but coming second in 1991 to Perkins, your teammate. How painful is that.
for my money 200 breast, 200 fly and maybe 400 im would be the toughest races out there. 200 breast done properly your muscles just go . same with 200 fly.
Do my friend a favor, and bop one of the Canadian Women’s players on the head while you’re there. I bet you could get one with a brick from a distance.
My friend’s sister is the alternate for the women’s team. Only way she’ll play is if someone gets injured.
The pain associated with swimming the mile fast, is unmatched in sports. Many many people puking from lactic acid build up. Maybe the oxygen debt is why distance swimmers like to breath on 2s instead of 3s
Grant Hackett is a MAJOR stud. I can’t wait for Thrope to get back into some international meets. 10 years ago though, its was Kieren Perkins destorying the world in the mile. 1994 Common Wealth games, he set the 800m and 1500m world record, in the same SWIM!!! Second place was 25m back! That’s UBER studly!!!
-bcreager
Ever get mile arms? If you’ve had them you will know what they are. Anyone ever had thier face, hands and feet go numb and turn blue during a race? Now that is when the fun starts.
I once made the finals of the 50 free in a meet and was also in the timed finals of the mile which was the event prior to the 50. I had three heats of 50’s (two womens and consol men) to cool down before I swam. The first 25 was ok, and I was actually near the front at the turn. thats when it went down hill, I did the turn and went to streamline and my arms were locked by my side. Totaly cramped up and loaded with lactate. I am the only person i know that could not finish a 50 free. And that includes all the 6 year olds I used to coach.
for my money 200 breast, 200 fly and maybe 400 im would be the toughest races out there. 200 breast done properly your muscles just go . same with 200 fly.
I agree on the 200BR and 400IM (the devils event along with the mile), but I think the 200 Fly was an easy event, much easier than a 200 FREE IMO
Many, many times. I use to love/hate swimming the race with a friend in college. He always took it out fast, and I liked to even split or negetive split the mile. I always same super fast when I swam with him, but we hurt so bad at the end, never puked…but saw stars on MANY occasions, and had to wait 10 minutes before warming down cause I couldn’t move.
200 Breast, no question, major pain. But that pain was in the legs…felt like they were going to snap in half at the shins.
400IM was my favorite event, and about the only thing I could qualify for seniors in. Lots of pain, but I think the mile has more. Same amount of pain, but have to deal with it longer in the mile.
200 fly is a cake walk…then again, I sucked at fly so its was a survival event for me, not a “race” event.
