Hardly miffed after being denied an early Olympic berth, Grant Hackett has challenged his 400m freestyle conqueror Mack Horton to find another gear and go for gold at the Rio Games.
Even comeback king Hackett in his prime could not have stopped Horton from claiming 400m gold on the opening night of the eight-day Rio trials in Adelaide on Thursday night.
Horton, 19, clocked three minutes, 41.65 seconds - an effort that would have won 2015 world titles gold.
And he leapfrogged Hackett on the all-time Australian 400m list, trailing only the great Ian Thorpe.
Hackett - 36 in May - may have fell at the first hurdle in his quest to become the oldest Australian swimmer to become an Olympian after being relegated to a distant fourth in the 400m final.
Yet he could only see a bright future for Horton - if the teenager found another gear at Rio.
"Stuff medals. Let's get some gold out of these blokes because they are good enough," he said of Horton.
Hackett reckoned the other Rio 400m qualifier - Thursday night's silver medallist David McKeon - should also focus on the Rio podium.
"I just want to see those guys produce on an international stage now," Hackett said.
"They've got the goods. They're the best - it would be great to see them get up."
In what was probably music to Hackett's ears, Horton did not sound like someone who was satisfied with merely making his first Olympic team.
"I still want to go faster," Horton said ominously.
Asked about leapfrogging Hackett on the all-time list, Horton said: "It's pretty insane really - but hopefully one day I can be No.1."
Horton hopes to bounce back from a brutal 2015 world titles campaign in which he arrived as the world No.1 ranked 400m and 1,500m freestyle contender, only to walk away with 800m bronze due to illness.
"As hard as it was it was a good experience," Horton said.
"Right now I've never wanted to be on a team more.
"And I think that showed in the time I swam (on Thursday night)."
"It's great to be back."
Hackett is vying for his fourth Games after coming out of a six year retirement at last year's trials and making the 2015 world titles team.
His best bet for Rio is now a 4x200m relay nod.
A top two finish within the qualifying time ensures an individual Rio berth before Australian head coach Jacco Verhaeren finalises relay squads.
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