Finest swim of all time

Originally posted by knelson How about Ian Thorpe's 800 free swim in the Aussie World Trials in Hobart in 2001? Perkins held the existing record with his 7:46.0 from Victoria in 1994, but this time was a split from his excellent 14:41.66 1500 swim (which Hackett finally bettered by .01 in 2002). With Thorpe and Hackett both in the race it seemed like a record that was in serious jeopardy. Thorpe had only swum this race a couple times previously, so he more or less just kept pace with Hackett for the first 700 meters. That's when Thorpe exploded. He split a 53.7 :eek: on his final 100 to finish in 7:41.59 to Hackett's 7:44.57. Thorpe would lower the world record to 7:39.16 at Worlds later that year, but to me, the way he destroyed the best distance swimmer in the world in the final 100 meters of the Hobart race was astounding. Kirk: Are you sure Hobart was the meet of that :53.7 split? It seemed to me that this was the same thing that happened to Grant Hackett again in Fukuoka at the 2001 Worlds. Hackett was even with Thorpe at the 700 and then Ian out sprinted Hackett on the last 100 to get that 7:39.16 to Grant Hackett's 7:40.34 and both swimmers were under the old World Record. I recall reading that Hackett was ready for Ian to do this and he responded and sprinted the last 100 also but was not as fast. But you will notice the defict was 1 second as opposted to almost 4 seconds. Hackett was swimming very well at this meet as witnessed by his World Record in the 1500 Free of 14:34.56 and smashing Pierkins record of 14:41.66 by 9 seconds. He also wasn't to shabby in the 400 Free going 3:42.51, which was the 7th fastest time in history at that time and only Ian six swims were faster. But he was still overshadowed by Ian Thorpe at that meet with his 6 Gold medals and 4 World Records. However Grant Hackett rebounded in less than a month after Worlds at the Aussie Short Course Championships. He set 3 Short Course World Records and they are still standing today. He went a 7:25.68 for the 800 Free and smashed Pierkins old World Record by 9.62 seconds. He also set the the 1500 Free World Record at 14:10.10 and what's significant about that swim is that he got mixed up by the counting and thought he had 50 meters to go so that was a foot touch World Record. He might have gone something like 14:07 if he knew where he was. He also set the 400 Meter World Record of 3:34.85, which still stands today. Also both Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe along with both Michael Klim and Bill Kirby set a SCM World Record of 6:56.41 in the 800 Free Relay breaking a World Record that was held by the USA by 5 seconds. To appreciate Grant Hackett's swims one must compare his Short Course Meter World Records with the American Records now. The American Record for the 400 Free is by Josh Davis at 3:40.66, the 800 Free is by Chad Carvin at 7:43.06, and the 1500 Free by Erik Vendt at 14:31.02. With those comparisons Grant Hackett's SCM along with Ian Thorpe's swims from Fukuoka have to be considered as some of the greatest swims.

Originally posted by knelson How about Ian Thorpe's 800 free swim in the Aussie World Trials in Hobart in 2001? Perkins held the existing record with his 7:46.0 from Victoria in 1994, but this time was a split from his excellent 14:41.66 1500 swim (which Hackett finally bettered by .01 in 2002). With Thorpe and Hackett both in the race it seemed like a record that was in serious jeopardy. Thorpe had only swum this race a couple times previously, so he more or less just kept pace with Hackett for the first 700 meters. That's when Thorpe exploded. He split a 53.7 :eek: on his final 100 to finish in 7:41.59 to Hackett's 7:44.57. Thorpe would lower the world record to 7:39.16 at Worlds later that year, but to me, the way he destroyed the best distance swimmer in the world in the final 100 meters of the Hobart race was astounding. Kirk: Are you sure Hobart was the meet of that :53.7 split? It seemed to me that this was the same thing that happened to Grant Hackett again in Fukuoka at the 2001 Worlds. Hackett was even with Thorpe at the 700 and then Ian out sprinted Hackett on the last 100 to get that 7:39.16 to Grant Hackett's 7:40.34 and both swimmers were under the old World Record. I recall reading that Hackett was ready for Ian to do this and he responded and sprinted the last 100 also but was not as fast. But you will notice the defict was 1 second as opposted to almost 4 seconds. Hackett was swimming very well at this meet as witnessed by his World Record in the 1500 Free of 14:34.56 and smashing Pierkins record of 14:41.66 by 9 seconds. He also wasn't to shabby in the 400 Free going 3:42.51, which was the 7th fastest time in history at that time and only Ian six swims were faster. But he was still overshadowed by Ian Thorpe at that meet with his 6 Gold medals and 4 World Records. However Grant Hackett rebounded in less than a month after Worlds at the Aussie Short Course Championships. He set 3 Short Course World Records and they are still standing today. He went a 7:25.68 for the 800 Free and smashed Pierkins old World Record by 9.62 seconds. He also set the the 1500 Free World Record at 14:10.10 and what's significant about that swim is that he got mixed up by the counting and thought he had 50 meters to go so that was a foot touch World Record. He might have gone something like 14:07 if he knew where he was. He also set the 400 Meter World Record of 3:34.85, which still stands today. Also both Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe along with both Michael Klim and Bill Kirby set a SCM World Record of 6:56.41 in the 800 Free Relay breaking a World Record that was held by the USA by 5 seconds. To appreciate Grant Hackett's swims one must compare his Short Course Meter World Records with the American Records now. The American Record for the 400 Free is by Josh Davis at 3:40.66, the 800 Free is by Chad Carvin at 7:43.06, and the 1500 Free by Erik Vendt at 14:31.02. With those comparisons Grant Hackett's SCM along with Ian Thorpe's swims from Fukuoka have to be considered as some of the greatest swims.