Mack Horton says it’s “heartbreaking” to realise he likely won’t be a part of the Australian team that lines up in the final of the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Australia qualified second fastest in a time of 7:05.00, behind only Great Britain (7:03.25), but Horton’s time of 1:47.51 was the slowest of the four swimmers.
Alexander Graham (1:45.72), Elijah Winnington (1:46.19) and Zac Incerti (1:45.58) were all quicker than Horton.
With Tommy Neill and Kyle Chalmers likely to come into the team for the final, Horton and Winnington are the obvious candidates to drop out.
“Not as good as I was hoping,” Horton said after the race.
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“It was probably not good enough to get through to the final team which is heartbreaking, but we got the team through and that’s all that matters.
“It was a privilege to be part of it.”
Horton was the defending 400m freestyle champion but missed selection at the Australian trials, after finishing third behind Winnington and Jack McLoughlin. McLoughlin claimed a silver medal in the event earlier in the week, while Horton was picked for the team as a relay swimmer.
Elsewhere, defending champion Kyle Chalmers has set the third-fastest time in the heats of the 100m freestyle.
Having shocked the world to win the title as an 18-year-old in Rio, Chalmers is looking to become the first Australian male to defend the 100m title.
He stopped the clocks in 47.77 seconds to win his heat comfortably.
Italian Thomas Ceccon was fastest qualifier in 47.71, ahead of Caeleb Dressel in 47.73.
Australia’s Cameron McEvoy clocked 48.72 and missed the semi finals, setting the 24th fastest time.
There were slightly farcical scenes for the women’s 200m butterfly, with a late withdrawal leaving only 16 competitors to line up in heats.
With all 16 swimmers qualifying for the semi finals, the only requirement was to avoid being disqualified.
The times were somewhat academic, however Australia’s Brianna Throssell was ninth fastest overall in 2:09.34.
There was good news for Australia in the men’s 200m breaststroke, with both Zac Stubblety-Cook and Matt Wilson qualifying for the semi finals.
Stubblety-Cook dead-heated for first in his heat, and the fastest time overall, with a time of 2:07.37.
Wilson is ninth fastest overall with a time of 2:09.29.
And Jack McLoughlin has qualified sixth fastest for the final of the men’s 800m freestyle, with a time of 7:46.94.
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