World Championships: Great Britain’s David Davies is Fastest in 1500 Freestyle Prelims

By John Lohn

MELBOURNE, Australia, March 30. ONE day before the start of the preliminaries of the 1500 freestyle, world-record holder Grant Hackett indicated he was unsure if he would contest the event in which he's the four-time defending champion and two-time reigning Olympic titlist. Yet, when the fifth heat was called, there was Hackett, behind the blocks and ready to go on Saturday morning.

The Australian distance star has had a rough meet, largely due to a lack of quality training. While he claimed the bronze medal in the 400 freestyle, Hackett placed seventh in the 800 free. His struggles have coincided with a coaching change from longtime mentor Denis Cotterell to Ian Pope and Hackett's attention to personal matters, including an upcoming wedding.

In the prelims of the 1500, Hackett managed to qualify fifth for tomorrow's championship final in 14:59.24. The top position for the title heat was claimed by Great Britain's David Davies, the bronze medalist two years ago in Montreal who was timed in 14:53.57. Picking up the No. 2 seed for the final was American Larsen Jensen in 14:56.28 and the third position went to Poland's Mateusz Sawrymowicz in 14:56.65.

Italy's Federico Colbertaldo was fourth (14:58.26) and the sixth position for the final went to the United States' Erik Vendt in 14:59.82. Seventh and eighth went to Russia's Yury Prilukov (15:01.67) and Aussie Craig Stevens (15:02.16). The surprise of the morning was the inability of Korea's Tae Hwan Park to reach the final. The champion of the 400 free, he was ninth in 15:03.62.

Click Here to view event results PDF file.

Check back for an updated story on this event as our team of Senior Writer John Lohn and CEO Brent Rutemiller, on the scene at Rod Laver Arena, provide in-depth coverage, along with radio and TV segments.

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