Grant Hackett

Grant Hackett OAM (born 9 May 1980) is an Australian former 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, and was formerly a long-time world record holder in the 1500 m and also in the 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. In total, he has won 10 World Championship gold medals.

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

Hackett works for the Nine Network, often hosting Wide World of Sports. He is now working for Westpac as a banker and has expressed interest in a possible future political career.

Swimming 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,...
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