MACKNIFICENT Horton announces retirement

SWIMMING Australia today recognised and thanked Mack Horton for his incredible years of valuable service to the Australian Dolphins following the announcement of his retirement from international competition.

The 27-year-old retires as an Olympic gold medallist in the 400m freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics, a bronze medallist in the 4x200m freestyle relay in Tokyo, an athlete leader – and a proud advocate of clean sport.

Mackenzie “Mack” Horton’s tireless work has left an indelible mark on world swimming – a World, Commonwealth and Olympic champion he is renowned for his integrity, values, and courage to stand up for what he believes in.

Horton amassed six gold medals across Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games in a 17-year career, and Swimming Australia acknowledges the positive impact he had on national teams, individuals, and members of the greater the swimming community.

Born and raised in Melbourne, Horton – who remains the only male swimmer from the state of Victoria to win an individual Olympic gold medal in Games history – began competitive swimming at the age of 10 after successfully overcoming his fear of the water.

After breaking his first Australian Age Record at the age of 13, Horton rose through the junior ranks and announced himself as a potential star of the future with five gold medals and five championship records at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Dubai.

He progressed to senior ranks after an eye-catching 2014 Australian Championships where he won the 1500m freestyle, finished second in the 400m freestyle and set three new junior world records.

Recently married to high school sweetheart Ella, Horton will now concentrate on a new career with advertising company Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne.

“I dearly wanted to swim in Paris but the hunger wasn’t there. I always want to give my all and I am not someone who just wants to make up the numbers, so this is the right time to step away,” Horton said.

“I have felt so privileged to represent Australia and wear the green and gold … I just hope Australia thinks I did them proud.

“I am so grateful for my time in swimming and in regard to legacy, I hope my teammates and the sport think that I was able to help them and the sport in some way.

“And I hope they just remember me as Mack.”

Horton will also be remembered for the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, he had won silver in the 400m freestyle behind China’s Sun Yang and in a “standoff” refused to shake Sun Yang’s hand or stand on the winners’ podium.

In February 2020, Sun Yang was issued an eight-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for tampering with the doping control process.

“I don’t have any regrets … only that the years went so quickly,” Horton said.

“Swimming has been my life … and it’s the friends and relationships I’ve made that trump any gold medal.

“There are many people to thank … my parents firstly, 5am training sessions are brutal for the whole family, my coaches Craig Jackson and Michael Bohl, Ella, my friends who have supported me along the way – and my Dolphins’ teammates.”

Fittingly Dolphin #747, the jet Horton will start his new job in Melbourne – tomorrow (Monday).

Horton, who is the new President of the Australian Swimmers Association, will relocate to Melbourne from the Gold Coast in the next few months but will still satisfy his competitive edge by competing in endurance ironman events including The Coolangatta Gold.

“On behalf of Swimming Australia, I’d like to congratulate Mack on a wonderful career and wish him the very best for the future,” said Swimming Australia Interim CEO Steve Newman.

“He has been a prodigious talent, an incredible professional and a remarkable leader.”

Head coach Rohan Taylor added: “Mack is a person of great influence with constructive insights, and he is just a quality human. I want to express heartfelt gratitude to Mack for his achievements in and out of the water.”

“From a performance point of view, he was consistent and confident … in 2019 at the World Championships he didn’t have a great heat swim in the 4x200m freestyle relay but he was determined to correct this and anchor the final.

“And he delivered, swimming two and half, three seconds quicker.

“For me, that was one of his greatest moments. As an athlete leader, he respected those that came before him and those that came after him … and his perspective was invaluable not just to his teammates but to us as coaches.

“He was a world-class competitor, and a person with a high level of integrity. I know he is content with this decision, and he will be enormously successful in the next stage of his life.”

From all of us at Swimming Australia, thank you Mack. You more than did us proud.

SNAPSHOT

• Horton won an Olympic gold medal in the 400m free at Rio in 2016 and a bronze medal as a prelim swimmer on the 4x200m free relay in 2021 in Tokyo.
• His 1:44.85 anchor was the fastest Australian leg at the 2019 World Championships, leading Australia to gold over Russia and the USA.
• Including that 2019 relay title, he has 7 World Championship medals, 4 Pan Pac Championship medals, and 8 Commonwealth Games medals – including 4 gold.

Horton is a former World Junior Record holder in the 200m free, 400m free, and 800m free.