REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Saturday, May 2, 1998

SWIMMING legend Kieren Perkins hit the water intent on proving he still had what it took to be the king.

The dual Olympic gold medallist was fighting to make it into the 1998 Commonwealth Games team in a bid to show his glory days were not over yet.

It was the penultimate day of the Games selection trials and Perkins and Grant Hackett, both 1500m freestyle world champions, were said to have been “locked together in an apparent display of synchronised swimming so precise they ‘split’ through the 800m mark in identical times”.

Hackett would surge, Perkins would respond.

Perkins even sprinted into the lead at the 650m turn. Hackett drew level.

Perkins hung in to qualify second fastest in 15.38.57, over archrival Daniel Kowalski who had swum 15.39.94 to win the only other heat.

To qualify for selection in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games team, Perkins had to finish higher than third.

“I’ve been doing this long enough to know my chances in these types of events,” Perkins said. “The worst-case scenario that I’m prepared to contemplate is coming third and getting on to the team.”

Perkins made it into the Games team and won bronze in Kuala Lumpur.

He and Hackett would go on to face each other one final time at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games where Perkins picked up a silver medal, coming in at under 15 minutes. He retired at the end of the Games.

Meanwhile, Surfers Paradise’s rubber ducky team hit the waves to practice ahead of the IRB branch titles.