Grant Hackett

Infobox Swimmer
swimmername = Grant Hackett

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fullname = Grant George Hackett
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nationality = AUS
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birthdate = birth date and age|df=yes|1980|5|9
birthplace = Southport, Queensland
deathdate =
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height = 197cm
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Grant George Hackett OAM (born May 9, 1980) is an Australian swimmer most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to be regarded as one of the greatest distance swimmers in history. He also collected a gold medal in Sydney for swimming in the heats of the 4×200 m freestyle relay. He is well regarded for his versatility, being the world record holder in the 1500 m and 800 m freestyle, and 2nd and 4th in the 400 m and 200 m freestyle respectively. He has dominated the 1500 m event in the past decade, being undefeated in the event in finals from 1996 until the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. His four World Championship gold medals in the event make him the only swimmer to have won a world title in one event four times, and in total, he has won 10 World Championship gold medals.

Hackett has been the captain of the Australian swimming team since the role was reintroduced in 2005.

Career

Hackett was born at Southport on the Gold Coast of Queensland. The son of a policeman and younger brother of an Ironman champion, he first achieved prominence on debut at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships, where he first won the 1500 meters. He also won the 400 m freestyle, recording his only international victory over the yet-to-be-famous Ian Thorpe at the distance in international competition. During the 1998 World Championships, he also won the event and was narrowly upset by Thorpe in the 400 m. He also combined with Thorpe, Michael Klim and Daniel Kowalski to win the 4×200 m freestyle relay, beginning a six-year winning streak in the event over the United States. These results were replicated at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. From 1997 to 2007 he was unbeaten in the 1500 m, winning it at every major world competition, including the World Championships, Pan Pacific Championships, Olympics, Commonwealth and Australian Championships.

In 1999, Hackett broke his first world record, unexpectedly breaking Giorgio Lamberti's 200 m freestyle world record at a club-level meet in Queensland. It was subsequently broken by Ian Thorpe in the same year at the 1999 Pan Pacific Championships in Sydney, although Hackett himself bettered his old mark. Hackett himself claimed the 1500 m freestyle, and combined with Thorpe, Klim and Bill Kirby to break the world record in the 4×200 m freestyle.

Entering the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Hackett was the overwhelming favourite in the 1500 m freestyle, and was also expected to help Thorpe take a quinella in the 200 m and 400 m events. However, due to a virus finished eighth and seventh respectively. He followed this with an extremely slow swim in the heats of the 4×200 m freestyle relay, and was dropped from the final quartet, being replaced by Todd Pearson. By the time the final of the 1500 m freestyle came, Hackett had qualified third behind sentimental favourite Kieren Perkins, who was being vocally cheered by the crowd. In the face of the immense pressure, Hackett adopted a more attacking, fast-starting approach, and managed to hang on to claim gold.

Over shorter distances, Hackett has been somewhat overshadowed by his fellow Australian Ian Thorpe; with his versatility over varying distances often unheralded. Despite this, he is a hugely popular figure in Australia. His extroverted personality is in sharp contrast with Thorpe's more reserved style, and is more in line with Australian expectations of sporting figures. His major interests outside swimming are playing the guitar and motor racing.

At the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Hackett was in the peak of his speed. He set personal bests in the 400 m and 800 m freestyle events, finishing second to Thorpe on both occasions, and bettering the previous world record in the latter. Along with Thorpe, Klim and Kirby, they bettered the previous world record in the 4×200 m freestyle. In the 1500 m, Hackett attacked immediately, and stayed well ahead of Perkins' world record, and with the crowd standing and willing him on, he broke the record by 7 seconds, to claim gold.

He replicated the results at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, the 2002 Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, and the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, taking the 1500 m and 4×200 m relay, while finishing behind Thorpe in the 400 m and 800 m, except in Barcelona where Thorpe opted not to swim the 800 m freestyle. He also claimed two silvers and a bronze (in Barcelona) for his outings in the 200 m freestyle.

At 196 cm (six foot five) and 89.8 kg (198 pounds), Hackett wins the gruelling 1500 meters race by sheer physical strength and stamina. He showed this in Sydney when he won despite having only partly recovered from illness, and again in Athens, when he survived challenges from swimmers (Larsen Jensen and David Davies) six years his junior to hang on to win the race, despite a partially collapsed lung. This came after a solid swim in the 400 m to claim silver behind Thorpe, and an unconvincing swim in the 200 m and 4×200 m relay, when he was more than a second outside of his best. His sluggish heat swim placed him third, raising concerns amongst the Australian camp. After the Olympics, it was revealed that one of his lungs was partially collapsed, leaving his total lung capacity diminished by 25%.

In 2005, Swimming Australia introduced the concept of a captain for the swimming team. Hackett was awarded this honour, and led Australia in the World Championships at Montreal, Canada. He won gold medals in the 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m freestyle, the first person ever to achieve this feat. His victory in the 800 m event broke Thorpe's world record, and his 1500 m victory saw him become the first to win an event four times at a World Championships. He was named as FINA's Male swimmer of the meet. He was named as the Australian Swimmer of the Year in 2005, and was also named the Swimmer of the Year by the Swimming World magazine.

In November 2005, Hackett announced his withdrawal from the 2006 Commonwealth Games due to being unavailable for the selection trials because of a minor surgery to correct a shoulder injury. However, he was given dispensation to act as a non-competing captain in order to mentor the fellow swimmers in the lead-up to the competition.

In late 2006, Hackett relocated to Melbourne due to personal reasons. He attributed his disrupted preparation to adjusting with his new regime. Prior to the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, he presented a pessimistic outlook of his prospects.

He qualified last in the 400 m event, but lead in the final before fading in the last lap to take the bronze medal. He qualified fifth in the 800 m event, but finished seventh, more than ten seconds behind the winner. In 1500 m final Hackett came seventh, ending his decade long unbeaten streak in the event.

In December 2007, Hackett competed in and won his first National Championship 10km Open Water race. By barely edging out veteran open-water swimmer and Ironman Triathlete Ky Hurst, the pair both qualified for the World Championships in in Seville, Spain. However, Hackett failed to finish in the top 10 in this event, and therefore missed out on qualifying for the 10km open water swim at the 2008 Summer Olympics. [cite news | last=Cowley | first=Michael | title=Hackett fails in open water | date=5 May 2008 | publisher=The Age | url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/beijing2008/hackett-fails-in-open-water/2008/05/04/1209839454865.html] He was also criticised for appearing to be overweight after the event, a claim that he rejected as "ridiculous". [cite news | last=Paxinos | first=Stathi | title=No muffin top here: Hackett fighting fit | date=7 May 2008 | publisher=The Age | url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/beijing2008/no-muffin-top-here-hackett-fighting-fit/2008/05/07/1209839706952.html]

At the 2008 Victorian Short Course Swimming Championships, his final Australian meet before departing for the Olympics, Hackett broke his own 800 metres freestyle world record - lowering the mark by almost two seconds to 7:23.42. [cite news|title=Hackett on track after short course WR|url=http://www.hansonsportsmedia.com/article.asp?id=2423|publisher="Hanson Sports Media"|date=2008-07-22|accessdate=2008-07-24]

Though Hackett failed to qualify for the 10,000m; he succeeded in other events. He swims the 400m and 1500m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle relay. In the 1500m he finished second, winning the silver medal behind Tunisian Oussama Mellouli. Had he won, he would have been the first male swimmer to win three successive Olympic titles in the same event, an opportunity denied to two-time Olympic 1500m champion Vladimir Salnikov due to the 1984 Summer Olympics communist boycott. He handed his individual 200m freestyle swim to third place finisher at trials, Nicholas Sprenger.

Career Best Times

#200 Freestyle-1:45.61
#400 Freestyle-3:42.51
#800 Freestyle-7:38.65(WR)
#1500 Freestyle-14:34.56(WR)

Personal life

On 14 April 2007, Hackett married Australian singer Candice Alley.

He has Bachelor of Commerce and Laws degrees from Bond University. [cite news | last=Bellamy | first=Louise | title=Swimming and the city | date=14 July 2008 | publisher=The Age| url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/beijing2008/swimming-and-the-city/2008/07/14/1215887537058.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1]

See also

* World record progression 1500 metres freestyle

External links

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* [http://granthackettonline.free.fr Grant Hackett Online]
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* Videos & Results on [http://www.swimpassion.net/Athletes/granthackett.html SwimPassion.net]

References