It was once called "Australia's race".
But the 1500m freestyle may be without Australia's best hope yet again after Jack McLoughlin hinted he may ditch the event from his huge program ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
McLoughlin has emerged as the breakout star of this week's world swimming titles trials in Brisbane, winning the 400m, 800m and 1500m finals.
His packed schedule at next month's world titles in South Korea also looks set to feature the 4x200m freestyle relay.
McLoughlin said he would see how he fared with the workload after the world titles in Gwangju but admitted he may have to follow Mack Horton's lead and trim his events.
And like Rio 400m gold medallist Horton, McLoughlin may be forced to cut Australia's beloved 1500m.
Australia was once synonymous with the distance event, winning Olympic 1500m gold eight times since Andrew Charlton emerged triumphant back in 1924.
The combined powers of Kieren Perkins and Grant Hackett ensured Australia won Olympic 1500m gold from 1992 to 2004.
Australia appeared to finally regain a footing in the event when Horton won 1500m bronze at the 2017 world titles.
It marked the first time Australia appeared on a 1500m podium at world level since dual Olympic champion Hackett retired in 2008.
However, Horton ditched the 1500m last year to concentrate on 200m and his pet event 400m.
McLoughlin seemed to be Australia's next great hope but admitted the 1500m may be jettisoned by the 2020 Olympics.
"It's a big schedule. The world champs are a good chance to compare yourself against the best in the world...and if something happens and I have to take one (event) out then that happens," McLoughlin said.
"I am leaning toward 400m and 800m. I started in the 1500m but at the moment there are some really fast Europeans."
Italy's reigning Olympic and dual world champion Greg Paltrinieri currently owns the 1500m event.
McLoughlin's winning 1500m time at the world titles trials was almost 15 seconds behind Paltrinieri's 2019 best.
In contrast, McLoughlin is ranked world No.4 in 400m and No.7 in 800m.
For now, McLoughlin looked forward to testing his mettle in the packed world titles program after a stellar trials in which he upset Horton in the 400m and 800m finals.
"I like to be known as one of the tougher guys on the team and doing something like that is one way to achieve it," he laughed.
