Thorpe's absence leaves a void in 400m free

By Julian Linden

BEIJING (Reuters) - Even though Ian Thorpe has hung up his goggles, his domination of middle-distance freestyle swimming is still creating ripples at the Beijing Olympics.

Thorpe was the undisputed king of the middle-distances for most of the past decade, dominating the 400 metres from the moment he won his first world championship in 1998 until he collected his second Olympic title at Athens four years ago.

The Australian never lost a major 400 race in that time and no-one has seriously challenged his world record of three minutes 40.08 seconds, which he set at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

His decision to retire in 2006 may have robbed swimming of one of the sport's great drawcards, but it also created a logjam of contenders hoping to cash in on his absence with the heats on Saturday. The final is on Sunday.

Heading the list is Thorpe's former team mate Grant Hackett, whose stranglehold on the 1500 is just as impressive as Thorpe's grip on the 400.

Hackett finished second to Thorpe in Athens and spent most of his career swimming in his wash but finally gets his chance to climb to the top of the podium.

Hackett's main focus in Beijing is to win the 1500 for the third successive time but his coach Ian Pope said the 400 was also high on his wishlist.

"The history of the 1500 is what is in the back of his mind but he would love to win the 400," Pope told reporters on Friday.