Grant Hackett

Grant George Hackett OAM (born 9 May 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 was well regarded for his versatility, and has held the long course world records in the 200 m, 800 m, and 1500 m freestyle events.

He dominated the 1500 m event for a decade, being undefeated in the event in finals from 1996 until the 2007 World Aquatics Championships.

In total, he won 10 long-course world championship gold medals.

Hackett first achieved prominence on debut at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships, where he first won the 1500 metres.

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 long course competition.

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.

During the 1998 World Championships, he again won the 1500 m but 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.

In 1999, Hackett broke his first world record, unexpectedly breaking Giorgio Lamberti's 200 m freestyle world record while leading off his club relay team at the Australian Championships.

That record 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, he was well short of his best and finished eighth and seventh, respectively, in these events.

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.

At the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Hackett was in the peak of his speed.

He set personal bests in the 200 m, 400 m 800 m and 1500 m freestyle events, finishing second to Thorpe in both 400 m and 800m, and bettering the 800 m 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.

In the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, Hackett picked up five medals; three gold, a silver and a bronze.

Despite capturing individual medals in 200, 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle events for the first time in an international meet, Hackett failed to break any personal best times.

At 196 cm (six foot five) and 89.8 kg (198 pounds), Hackett won the gruelling 1500 metres 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) both 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 a lackluster performance in the individual 200 m, followed by an unconvincing swim in the lead-off leg of the 4 × 200 m relay, when he was 1.66 seconds off his best.

His sluggish heat swim placed him third, raising concerns within 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%.

Hackett was the captain of the Australian swimming team from the time the role was reintroduced in 2005 until his retirement in 2008.

Hackett worked for the Nine Network, often hosting Wide World of Sports.

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, Quebec, Canada.

Hackett's contract as a Westpac Banking Corporation ambassador was not renewed in February 2012 after 13 years in the role, but he remains an employee of the organisation.

He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Generation Life.

Hackett was born at Southport on the Gold Coast of Queensland.

He is the son of a policeman and younger brother of a Surf Lifesaving champion.

Hackett's mother, Margaret, had his brother Craig six years before he was born, as she was diagnosed with cancer between the two boys'births, and was told due to the cancer she was unlikely to ever have more children,however she later fell pregnant with Grant.

He attended Merrimac State High School.