{"id":529509,"date":"2023-06-13T17:18:31","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T00:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=529509"},"modified":"2023-06-14T12:33:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T19:33:07","slug":"australian-trials-shades-of-thorpe-and-hackett-as-freestylings-new-breed-sam-short-and-elijah-winnington-give-dolphins-a-1-2-punch-for-fukuoka-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/australian-trials-shades-of-thorpe-and-hackett-as-freestylings-new-breed-sam-short-and-elijah-winnington-give-dolphins-a-1-2-punch-for-fukuoka-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Trials: Shades Of Thorpe And Hackett As Freestyling\u2019s New Breed Sam Short And Elijah Winnington Give Dolphins A 1-2 Punch For Fukuoka Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian Trials: Shades Of Thorpe And Hackett As Dolphins New Breed Sam Short And Elijah Winnington Give Aussies A 1-2 Punch For Fukuoka Return<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the height of their powers\u00a0Ian Thorpe<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Grant Hackett<\/strong>\u00a0provided Australia with one of world swimming\u2019s most lethal freestyle combinations and now some 20 years on the Dolphins will return to Fukuoka next month with another exciting one-two freestyle punch.<\/p>\n

Memories of so many Thorpe and Hackett battles as they re-wrote the record books were on show in Melbourne last night when Queensland pair\u00a0Sam Short<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Elijah Winnington<\/strong>\u00a0put on a 400m freestyle showdown for the ages.<\/p>\n

\"Sam

TOUCH AND GO: Sam Short (black cap) and Elijah Winnington on the wall at MSAC last night. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).<\/p><\/div>\n

The pair went stroke-for-stroke, staging a thrilling finish, with just 0.10 of a second between them – emulating the feats their heroes.<\/p>\n

So many times, between 1998 and 2004 Thorpe and Hackett would lock horns and so many times it was over that 400m distance \u2013 so many races that would come down to those crucial final touches \u2013 and so many races in world record time.<\/p>\n

And last night with young guns Short and Winnington in full cry for eight laps, was certainly reminiscent of a special golden era for the Dolphins.<\/p>\n

Winnington (25.52 and 53.32) took the race out from the get-go leading Short (25.74 and 53.66) through the first 100m before Short (1:21.70 and 1:50.11) made his move over Winnington (1:21.74 and 1:50.44) towards the half-way mark.<\/p>\n

It would come down to final two laps and the final touch and with 100m to go it was Short (2:47.18) hanging on as Winnington (2:47.72) mounted his final charge.<\/p>\n