MELBOURNE Daniel Kowalski won the Australian short-course 1,500 meters freestyle title on Sunday after Olympic champion Grant Hackett decided to spend the day at an Indycar race in Queensland.
Hackett, 20, acted as Grand Marshall at the Indycar race on the Gold Coast after winning the 800m freestyle on Saturday in a time 1.51 seconds outside compatriot Kieren Perkins's world record set in 1993 in Berlin.
Hackett won the Sydney Olympic 1,500m final last month ahead of Perkins who was aiming for his third consecutive gold medal in the event.
Perkins and Olympic gold medalists Susan O'Neill, Michael Klim, who has a back injury, and Ian Thorpe did not compete at the short-course championships.
Kowalski, 25, won silver behind Perkins in the 1,500m at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
His time on Sunday was 14 minutes 41.62 seconds.
Following shoulder surgery, Kowalski swam in the heats of the 4x200m relay for Australia at the Sydney Games.
He told reporters on Sunday he hoped to compete at the 2004 Athens Games.
Thorpe, Klim, Todd Pearson and William Kirby set a world record in the 4x200m Olympic relay final on September 19.
(Reuter)