Full name Mackenzie Horton Weight 88 kg (194 lb) Parents Andrew Horton Height 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | Name Mack Horton Nickname(s) "Mack" | |
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Mack Horton on Freestyle Swimming | Gillette World Sport
Mackenzie "Mack" Horton (born 25 April 1996) is an Australian freestyle swimmer. He is an Olympic gold medallist, World Championships medallist, and Commonwealth Games medallist. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he finished first in the 400m freestyle, winning his first gold medal and became the first male swimmer from the state of Victoria to do so in the Games' history.
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Career
Horton first represented Australia at the 2012 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Honolulu, where he won gold in the 1500 metre freestyle in a championship record time of 15:10.07. At the same meet, he finished second in the 400-metre freestyle and 4th in the 800-metre freestyle.
Two months later at the final leg of the 2012 World Cup in Singapore, Horton won the 1500 metre freestyle event in 14:54.25.
At the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival, Horton won gold in the 1500 metre freestyle event.
Eight months later at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Dubai, Horton won five gold medals and a silver. He took out the 200 m, 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m freestyle events and alongside Luke Percy, Regan Leong and Blake Jones won the 4×100 m freestyle relay all in new Championships record times. The team of Horton, Leong, Isaac Jones and Jack McLoughlin finished second behind the British in the 4×200 m freestyle relay event.
Horton qualified for his first senior team at the 2014 Australian Swimming Championships where he won the 1500 metre freestyle in 14:51.55 and finished second behind David McKeon in the 400-metre freestyle in 3:44.60, setting two new junior world records. Horton also finished 5th in the 200-metre freestyle in 1:47.36 which also set a new junior world record.
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Horton won the silver medal in the 1500 metre freestyle in new junior world record time of 14:48.76 and narrowly missed the podium in the 400-metre freestyle finishing in fourth place in 3:44.91. In the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay event, Horton alongside Thomas Fraser-Holmes, David McKeon and Ned McKendry finished as the fastest qualifies with Horton swimming the anchor leg in 1:49.17. In the final, Horton was replaced by Cameron McEvoy and they went on to win the gold in a new games record time of 7:07.38.
Three weeks later at the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Gold Coast, Australia, Horton won the silver medal in the 800-metre freestyle in 7.47.73, the bronze medal in the 1500 metre freestyle in 14:52.78 and with McKeon, McEvoy and Fraser-Holmes won bronze in the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay in 7:08.55.
In April 2014, Horton became an ambassador with the swimwear brand Speedo and in August 2014, after his breakthrough performances he was named the winner of the Georgina Hope Foundation Rising Star of the Australian Swim Team.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Horton represented Australia in the 400 m freestyle, in which he won gold, and the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, in which he finished 4th with his teammates. He finished 5th in the final of the 1500 m freestyle.