Australian Swimming Championships: Horton sails past Perkins, Cate Campbell just misses world record in 50m freestyle

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McEvoy wins freestyle triple crown

Cameron McEvoy adds the 50-metre freestyle to his 100 and 200-metre victories to become the first man to complete the hat-trick in 34 years.

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Mack Horton has leap-frogged Kieran Perkins in the all-time 1500m ranks as he slashed five seconds off his personal best time to close out the Olympic trials in Adelaide.

After posting the best time of the year in the 400m earlier in the meet, Horton has stamped himself as a genuine chance for the men's distance double after touching the wall in 14:39.54, with Brisbane's Jack McLoughlin also qualifying with a 14:48.6.

Winning style: Mack Horton celebrates his win in the 1500 metres. Photo: Getty Images

Now Grant Hackett (14:34.56) is the only Australian to have gone faster than the 19-year-old from Melbourne, with Perkins' best of 14:41.66 lost in the wake of the rapidly improving Horton.

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Horton said he felt the burn badly at the 1000m but rose on the back of the crowd as they urged him onwards towards a time that will make him hugely competitive should he reduce it even further in Rio. China's Sun Yang holds the world mark with 14:31.02.

"It was faster than I thought it was going to be," Horton said. "At the 800 it started to hurt a bit; after 1000m it was pretty rough.

So close: Cate Campbell. Photo: Quinn Rooney

"To go 14:48 yesterday morning, I wasn't sure how I was going to go tonight. The last 500 was struggle street. I felt quite good in the last 36 hours, but I really felt it in the back end of that."

Cate Campbell edged her way even closer to one of the supersuit sprint records after another dominant swim in Adelaide.

The Queenslander added the 50m national crown to the 100m she won earlier in the meet and was yet again ahead of the red world record line with about 10m left to swim, only for it to draw clear near the wall.

Campbell reduced her Australian and Commonwealth record to 23.84, the fastest swum in a textile suit and now only 0.11 of a second off the 2009 mark of Germany's Britta Steffen (23.73).

Sister Bronte, the defending world champion in this event, was second in 24.24s and she will join Cate in both women's sprints in Rio.

Campbell said she never set out to chase world records but admitted finally cracking one of the infamous supersuit records would be a remarkable achievement.

"It would be pretty cool," she said. "But I've never got something from going after it. Once I hit the water, I can get it. I almost got it the other night as well. I was a bit closer tonight. But really, really pleased with that swim. I'm thrilled with that."

Campbell has made the 100m her focus, but a return to good health and being free from injury has seen that form over the longer distance translate to better results in the frantic freestyle dash.

"I think it's just consistency," she said. "It's been a bit of a rocky road with injury in the last couple of years. Health and fitness has been a really key point.

"I love them both [50m and 100m]. It's like choosing between your children. You have favourites on different days."

Australia's men's 4 x 100m relay were in the water to set a Rio qualifying time after failing to make the final at the FINA World Championships in Kazan last year.

They did that and then some, with the squad of James Roberts, Kyle Chalmers, James Magnussen and Cam McEvoy clocking 3:12.26, which would have been good enough for a bronze medal at the world titles.

Magnussen and Roberts weren't named in the official Dolphins team on Thursday night but will be added once the May 31 qualification deadline has passed.

Australian Dolphins team: Jessica Ashwood, Bronte Barratt, Joshua Beaver, Georgia Bohl, Bronte Campbell, Cate Campbell, Kyle Chalmers, Tamsin Cook, Alicia Coutts, Brittany Elmslie, Blair Evans, Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Madeline Groves, Jacob Hansford, Belinda Hocking, Mack Horton, Grant Irvine, Mitch Larkin, Travis Mahoney, Cameron McEvoy, David McKeon, Emma McKeon, Taylor McKeown, Keryn McMaster, David Morgan, Leah Neale, Kotuku Ngawati, Jake Packard, Joshua Palmer, Emily Seebohm, Daniel Smith, Brianna Throssell, Madison Wilson, Jack McLoughlin.

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