Racing to Gwangju
Jack McLoughlin dominated at World Champs Trials winning gold and making qualifying times in the 400, 800, 1500 Free.
Aussie F-Teamer Jack McLoughlin completed an impressive week in Brisbane on Thursday, finishing the 2019 Hancock Prospecting Swimming Trials with three gold medals and three World Championships qualifying times. All of Jack's races were swum in the Funky Trunks APEX Predator performance suit.
McLoughlin began the week with a victory in the 400m Freestyle over Mack Horton, the 2016 Olympic gold medallist in the same event. His time of 3:44.34 puts him at #4 in the world this year, just missing his personal best of 3:44.20 and easily eclipsing the Worlds qualifying time of 3:46.14.
He repeated the feat in the 800m Freestyle two days later, finishing 8 seconds ahead of his next competitor (and 15 seconds ahead of Horton) with a personal best time of 7:46.79. He now ranks #7 in the world this year, and #5 all-time in Australia.
Jack completed his hat trick with a time of 14:52.83 in the 1500m Freestyle, showing incredible closing speed with a final 50m split of 27.92 (faster than the last 50m of his 800m). Though 5 seconds off his personal best of 14:47.09 that won him gold at Pan Pacs last year, his time sits at #6 in the world this year and is over 6 seconds below the Worlds qualifying time.
Jack is one of only 8 Australian men to have ever cracked the 15 minute mark in the 1500m Freestyle.
Along with Kyle Chalmers, who swept the 50m-100m-200m Freestyle events in Brisbane, Jack can represent Australia in 3 Freestyle events at World Championships. Headlining these races will be the increasingly controversial Sun Yang of China, who has been world champion in every Freestyle event from the 200 to the 800. Gregorio Paltrinieri and Gabriele Detti of Italy are also distance Freestyle world champions who will be looking to medal in multiple events. Meanwhile, McLoughlin will face a rematch with American rivals Jordan Wilimovsky and Zane Grothe, with whom he shared multiple podiums at Pan Pacs last year. With competition this fierce, McLoughlin may consider scratching the 1500 in order to focus on the 400 and the 800. His 4th place time of 1:46.82 in the 200m Freestyle at Trials also makes him a likely member of Australia's 4 x 200m Freestyle relay.
The FINA World Championships will take place next month in Guangju, South Korea. Funky Trunks would like to congratulate Jack on all his success at Trials, and we wish him all the best at Worlds.