Men's 1500 Meter Freestyle

The two-time defending Olympic champ and World Record holder Grant Hackett will be in Beijing to defend his title. At Worlds in 2007 in Melbourne Hackett finished in 7th place, it was the first time in about 10 years that he had lost this race. He was recovering from shoulder surgery at the time, so it could have been a fluke. You just cannot count this man out of the race and he is probably considered the favorite for gold being the only man under 14:40 ever. Assuming he can make history and three-peat this event we will surely see Grant celebrate. Fellow Aussie Craig Stevens will be joining Hackett in the 1500 in Beijing. Both men looked strong in the final at trials.


Grant Hackett looks to become the first man to win 3 golds in the 1500

The US is sending the same two men that we are sending in the 400, Larsen Jensen and Peter Vanderkaay. Though Erik Vendt put up a great time in May, he hit the wall in finals at Omaha and will only be swimming in the 800 Free Relay (4x200).


Larsen Jensen letting us know how many medals he wants in Beijing

The three big names to watch from Europe are Russian Yury Prilokov, who won the European Champs this year, Mateusz Sawrymowicz of Poland who won Worlds last year and took bronze at the Euros, and David Davies of the UK who won this event in the Commonwealth games in 2006 and took silver in the Euros this year. Ous Mellouli, who tested positive for Adderal (got it from a fellow USC student and said he took it for a term paper) after the World Champs in '07, will be eligible for the games in '08 and could be a factor in the finals.

Medal Predictions:

Video:

Watch Grant Hackett's great distance stroke underwater

 

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