BRISBANE, Australia, March 19 - Australian Ian Thorpe’s narrow miss in an attempt to better his own 400 metres freestyle world record at the national championships was blamed on a lack of air-conditioning Tuesday.

In temperatures of more than 35 degrees Celsius Monday, Thorpe swam three minutes 40.54 seconds, 0.37 seconds outside the world record of 3:40.17 he set in winning one of a record six gold medals at last year’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

His coach Doug Frost blamed the heat in Brisbane’s Chandler Aquatic Centre for Thorpe’s failure to swim faster.

Olympic and world 1,500 metres freestyle champion Grant Hackett, second to Thorpe in the 400 in the 1998 and 2001 world championships, clocked 3:45.39 after shadowing his rival for the first 250 metres.

Thorpe, 19, said he had put a lot of effort into Monday’s race and the hot conditions had slowed him down.

Thorpe, named last month as the world’s most outstanding athlete, is world record holder in the 200, 400 and 800 metres freestyle and won the 400 at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

The Australian national championships are selection trials for the Manchester Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama later this year.

The six-day championships finish Saturday.

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