A little over three months later, Horton qualified for and was named to the Australia roster for the 2022 World Short Course Championships, to be held in December following the Championships relocation from the Palace of Water Sports in Kazan to his hometown of Melbourne, based on his performances in August at the 2022 Australian Short Course Swimming Championships."Dolphins Named For Home World Short Course Championships". Swimming Australia. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022. Day three of the 2022 World Short Course Championships, contested at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, he ranked fourth in the preliminaries of the 400 metre freestyle with a time of 3:38.09 and qualified for the evening final.FINA (15 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 400m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 15 December 2022. Dropping to a 3:37.94 in the final, he placed sixth.FINA (15 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 400m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 15 December 2022. The following day, he won a silver medal as part of the finals relay in the 4×200 metre freestyle relay, splitting a 1:43.19 for the fourth leg of the relay to help set new Oceanian, Commonwealth, and Australian records in the event with finals relay teammates Thomas Neill, Kyle Chalmers, and Flynn Southam in a time of 6:46.54.FINA (16 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 4x200m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 16 December 2022.Pérez, Marta (16 December 2022). "España, 6a con doble tope en unos 4x200 libre con récord del mundo de Estados Unidos" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 21 December 2022. In the inaugural men's 800 metre freestyle at a World Short Course Championships, the following day, he placed ninth overall with a time of 7:40.64.FINA (17 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 800m Freestyle Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
