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Grant Hackett’s departure this week has thrown up a chilling statistic for the Australian swim team. For the first time since 1980 the nation doesn’t have a male Olympic swimming gold medallist at its disposal.
And the big man’s exit means that in the last 24 months the services of Ian Thorpe, Hackett and Michael Klim have all been lost.
So Hackett’s decision to drag his body out of the competition pool should be cause for concern.
Shouldn’t it?
Well in terms of Australia’s current 1500m stocks, yes.
There is nobody in the short term ready to be a competitive force in the 30-lap event and the race will lose some of its lustre for Australian audiences.
Hackett’s leadership will be missed, it is silly to suggest otherwise.
But as for the wider state of the men’s team, it is actually in good shape.
The Australian team captain’s exit puts the onus on Eamon Sullivan to become the standard bearer for the Australian men in the lead up to the 2012 London Olympics.
The fastest swimmer on the planet’s world record shattering feats have already inspired a new generation of male sprinters.
“I think Eamon has definitely led the boys in terms of performance, he proved to a lot of the new brigade what can be done,” said Sullivan’s coach Grant Stoelwinder.
“They were kicked and beaten for quite a while there and Brenton Rickard is the other one, I think those two are the guys that will take on that leadership.”
Sullivan may have missed out on a gold medal in Beijing but the 23-year-old West Australian is expected to use that disappointment to fuel his world championships campaign in Rome next year.
The sight of all the men’s relays reaching the podium in Beijing compared to just once in Athens showed the depth of talent coming through the men’s ranks.
While Sullivan is the only one that appears to have that superstar quality, the talent in all strokes is very encouraging.
“I think we are looking good,” said Stoelwinder.
“I know we didn’t quite get there in some events (in Beijing) but the way it was looking a few years ago it was not looking pretty.
“We actually did a really good job in those sprint events.”
And the competition for places, with the possible exception of the distance events, is really heating up in the men’s team before next year’s world championships trials in March.
With only top two earning individual swims in Rome, there is no room for veterans to tread water in events.
In each stroke there is enough talent for those not moving forward to be swamped.
In the freestyle, Sullivan has the likes of Matt Targett and Andrew Lauterstein to keep him honest while 17-year-old Tommaso D’Orsogna is one to keep an eye on in the sprinting ranks.
There is still room for improvement in the middle distance races with Pat Murphy, Kenrick Monk and Nic Sprenger needing to step up.
In butterfly Olympic 100m bronze medallist Lauterstein is leading the way with the likes of Garth Kates, troubled Nick D’Arcy, Christopher Wright and Matt Jaukovic all waiting in the wings.
The backstroke department is in its best health in years with surprise Beijing 100m bronze medallist Hayden Stoeckel having his hands full against Ash Delaney and Robert Hurley.
Meanwhile in breaststroke, Christian Sprenger’s impressive World Cup campaign has him poised to launch a genuine tilt at Olympic 200m silver medallist Brenton Rickard’s status as the best in the land.
Sure the men still have some serious catching up to do in terms of star power especially compared to the ultra-successful women’s team of Stephanie Rice, Libby Trickett and Leisel Jones.
But maybe, just maybe, they might be on a more even footing sooner rather than later.