Elijah on mission to win back Thorpey’s stolen record

ELIJAH Winnington isn’t satisfied with becoming the world’s premier middle-distance freestyler.

Now the Australian wants to be the greatest 400m freestyler of all time. And that means doing two remarkable things: Winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics and breaking the world record that was snatched from Ian Thorpe during swimming’s supersuit era.

That’s a tall order, but Winington is such a special talent and the signs are there that he could do what many think is almost impossible after resurfacing from disappointment to spectacular triumph.

The world record for 400m freestyle is 3:40.07, set by Germany’s Paul Biedermann at the 2009 world championships when the now-banned rubberised costumes were allowed.

Biedermann’s record proved to be one of the last straws that led to the buoyancy-aiding outfits being banned, because he broke Thorpe’s legendary mark of 3:40.08 — albeit by the tiniest margin in swimming.

Now Winnington wants to get the record back for Australia.

“You’re always striving for improvement,” he said. “And I want to keep pushing to get closer to that world record barrier. There’s little things like skills to improve on, and to be honest with you, the race strategy still isn’t perfect.”

Winnington stormed into the all-time top five by adopting a fearless approach to the eight-lap race, taking it out fast then trying to bring it home. It’s a strategy fraught with danger and after he misfired and faded at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, but he has bounced back. And he has a big supporter in Dean Boxall, his master coach who oversaw Ariarne Titmus breaking Katie Ledecky’s seemingly unbreakable 400m world record for women.

“Arnie and I both have our plans of what we’re doing, going into Paris, and that’s how we train. That’s just the way it is and that’s why Dean is the mastermind,” Winnington said.

“If you don’t put yourself out there in a position, you can’t expect yourself to achieve these amazing times.” Winnington’s turnaround from the disappointment of Tokyo has been nothing short of remarkable. A prodigious talent, he was hard on himself after the Olympics, but has rediscovered his love of racing after a heart-to-heart talk with Boxall that changed his whole approach to swimming — by not taking it too seriously.

“We shared a really special moment after my last race. He gave me a good hug and I started to get teary,” Winnington said.

“He just said, It’s been an unbelievable 12 weeks, just to see where I was 12 months ago to where I am now. People on the outside can see the performances but it’s the inner circle that are getting to see the change in you.”