Hawke grants Hackett support

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Senior Australian squad member Brett Hawke has thrown his weight behind Grant Hackett being appointed captain of the Australian team for the world championships in Montreal later this year.

Swimming Australia announced recently that it would appoint a team captain when the squad was chosen after the selection trials in March, and Hackett’s name was the first mentioned as a likely candidate.

“I think it’s a fantastic move,” Hawke said. “It’s one of the things I’ve discussed with a number of swimmers for a few years and we’ve had a few meetings with Swimming Australia previously about this.

“I think it was needed to take the next step forward for this sport, and I’m putting my weight behind Grant Hackett because I think he’d be perfect for the job.

“His results speak for themselves and he has the respect of the total team, so I think if they [Swimming Australia] were to choose Grant, it would be a great choice.”

Thorpe says break has kept him in pool

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Ian Thorpe’s career would be over had he not decided to take a sabbatical from competition this year.

Thorpe’s coach Tracey Menzies announced earlier this week what most had expected, that the 22-year-old would not compete at the Montreal world championships in July.

Thorpe will also miss the coming national titles in Sydney, preferring to spend 2005 as a training year. Thorpe says that his focus is on the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Just when he decides to return to competition remains unknown.

“I haven’t decided that,” Thorpe said. “I’m just training and doing those things, and I’ll work out when I want to race again . . . but it’s not yet.

“To me it’s about being satisfied with the things I’m doing in my life rather than swimming being the be-all and end-all of my life, and a lot of people think that that’s all I do.

“For me to be doing things away from the pool, I’m getting just as much out of that at the moment as what I have my swimming.”

When asked if he would have struggled to make it through to Beijing had he not decided to take time away, Thorpe was emphatic that his career would already be over. “Oh, yeah most definitely. I wouldn’t be swimming if I didn’t have this time off. I would have had enough by now.

“Clearly, a lot of people would like me to be swimming there (at the world titles) but I’m looking at what I want to be doing in four years’ time, rather than in the next four months.”

Thorpe said he was back in training, but just not doing as much.

Australia has been virtually guaranteed a gold medal on the opening day of major events, courtesy of Thorpe swimming the 400 metres freestyle.

But Australia is still likely to win the 400 freestyle in Montreal, with Grant Hackett tipped to take over at the world titles.

Thorpe needs season off to smell the roses

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Ian Thorpe’s career would be over had he not decided on a competition sabbatical this year. His coach, Tracey Menzies, announced this week what most had expected - that the 22-year-old would not compete at the world championships in Montreal in July.

He will also miss the coming Australian national titles in Sydney, preferring instead to spend 2005 as a training year rather than a competing year.

Thorpe says his focus is specifically on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Just when he decides to return to competitive swimming - both local and international - remains unknown.

“I haven’t decided that,” Thorpe said when asked how long before he’d race again. “To me it’s about being satisfied with the things I’m doing in my life rather than swimming being the be-all and end-all. A lot of people think it’s [swimming] all I do.”

Asked if he would have struggled to make it through to the Beijing Games had he not decided to take some time away from the sport, Thorpe was emphatic with his response, adding that his career could already be over.

“Oh yeah, most definitely,” he said. “I wouldn’t be swimming if I didn’t have this time off. I would have had enough by now.

“Clearly a lot of people would like me to be swimming there [in Montreal] but I’m looking at what I want to be doing in four years’ time rather than in the next four months.”

Thorpe admitted he was back in training but said he wasn’t doing as much as in the past. Importantly, he said he was happy with being “back in the pool, back being fit, and back being quite healthy”.

“The break has been good,” he said. “I’ve had opportunities overseas and in Australia, and I’ve been enjoying myself.

“I’ve been skiing in Switzerland and went to the Super Bowl in the US recently, having fun and getting back into the swing of things, and it’s fun as well.

“At home I’ve been surfing and bum- ming about - that’s what I do - it’s a little bit slower pace than the things I’ve been doing lately [overseas] but that’s me.

“It’s a bit lame but I do a little bit too much gardening, too.”

For years Australia has been virtually guaranteed a gold medal on the opening day of major events, courtesy of Thorpe swimming the 400-metres freestyle. He has owned the event since winning the world title in Perth in 1998.

He has not been beaten in the 400m - with the exception of his disqualification after falling into the pool at the Olympic trials last year - since 1998.

In that time Thorpe has won another two world titles, two Olympic golds, two Commonwealth Games golds, broken the world record five times, and has the nine fastest 400m times ever swum.

Australia is still likely to win the 400m in Montreal, with Grant Hackett tipped to take over from his good friend at the world championships.

“I don’t think it will be hard at all,” Thorpe replied when asked how difficult it would be to watch someone else win his event. “If I’m not in the pool, it’s not going to concern me who is swimming and who is going to win,” he added.

Nevertheless, he conceded that he might travel to Canada to watch Hackett compete.

“I’ll probably watch it,” Thorpe said of the world titles. “I’ll probably end up being over there to watch it.”

Thorpe opts out of world titles

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THE Australian team is braced for life without its most reliable gold medal-winner Ian Thorpe - at least for this year.

Thorpe’s coach Tracey Menzies finally confirmed what was becoming quite obvious - the Thorpedo will skip this year’s world championships in Montreal.

“Ian won’t be standing up to race at the world titles, which is going to be hard for the Australian team and hard for the rest of his team-mates, but it’s something he needs to do in preparation for Beijing (the 2008 Olympics),” Menzies told the ABC’s Australian Story program.

New national head coach Alan Thompson conceded the team would have to moderate its expectations for the world titles as a consequence of Thorpe’s absence.

“If Ian is not in our team it probably means there’s a couple of medals we might not win,” Thompson said.

“Even with Grant Hackett there, he can pick up the slack in some areas, but not everywhere.”

Hackett would become the obvious favourite to win his first 400m freestyle world title, having finished second behind Thorpe at the last two world championships and the Athens Olympics.

However, Hackett has already declared that he will not contest the 200m freestyle this year, despite being a former world record-holder in that event. He intends to concentrate his efforts on the 400m- 800m-1500m treble and the 4×200m freestyle relay.

That will mean Australia will have two new representatives in the 200m. The contenders include Queensland’s Nick Sprenger, who finished third behind Thorpe and Hackett in that event at the Olympic trials, Perth’s Antony Matkovich and possibly former world champion Michael Klim, who has shown some interest in a return to the event.

There will also be vacancies in the 100m freestyle with Olympic representatives Thorpe and former world short-course champion Ashley Callus both unavailable this year.

That will certainly give Klim, the former world record-holder, a chance to re-establish himself in the 100m freestyle after his four-year battle with back, ankle and shoulder injuries.

Australia’s men’s relay team struggled at last year’s Olympics, even with the world’s best anchorman to bring them home. The men’s team won only one Olympic relay medal, silver in the 4×200m freestyle.

Without Thorpe even that achievement may be beyond reach.

To some extent the reliable presence of multiple Olympic gold medallists Thorpe and Hackett has masked the malaise that has begun to afflict the national men’s team in the past two years.

However, Thompson said Thorpe’s absence would give the team an opportunity to improve the depth of talent available to the 4×100m and 4×200m freestyle relays by accelerating the progress of the second-tier swimmers.

He said taking a step back this year could assist the relays to leap forward next year, when Thorpe plans to return to the team for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Ultimately, Thompson hopes that the Australian team will be stronger in Beijing for exposing its weaknesses this year.

Hackett on notice from rivals

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Australian Grant Hackett knows he must swim faster to remain dominant in his favourite event.

Grant Hackett always believed he could swim the 1500 metres faster than the world-record time of 14 minutes 34.56 seconds he produced in 2001. He just didn’t realise he might have to do it in order to maintain his dominance in the event.

Hackett has not been beaten in the 1500 since the 1996 Olympic trials, and will be trying to become the first man to win four successive world titles in the same event when he contests the event at the championship in July, but he is quite aware that the challengers have arrived.

In Athens last August, Hackett was pushed for 30 laps by American Larsen Jensen and Briton David Davies. He won by less than two seconds, as the young pair both shattered their previous best times in producing 14:45 swims.

“I know I’m going to have to go faster than 14 minutes 43 if I want to hold these guys off,” Hackett said.

“If they keep improving in the big increments that they have, I’m going to have to watch my back. And I am. These guys are young, hungry and very talented and seem to be moving forward all the time.
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“I know I can swim faster than 14 minutes 34. When that will happen, I’m not sure, but I know my training has improved a lot since I swum that in 2001.”

Asked if it will take a world record to win the world title - the venue of the event is likely to be decided in the next few days - Hackett said: “It’s certainly something that has crossed my mind, given that these guys have improved so much in such a short space of time.”

Hackett also knows the pair will be ready for him. While the Queenslander took 10 weeks off after the Games, both Jensen and Davies were back in the water inside two weeks of the closing ceremony. But while he knows they will be motivated and training hard, he feels, too, that he will be where he needs to be in July.

“In the time frame I have been given, I will do everything I can to prepare, to make sure I’m the fittest for that 1500 metres freestyle, and I’ll make sure I put up a tough race,” he said. “Whether I can get beaten or not, I’m not sure. That’s not the attitude I’m thinking about at the moment. My purpose is to prepare and prepare the best I can.

“I thought this time off would affect me more than it has. I had 10 weeks off, which I thought would put me behind, but at this stage, my training has been pretty good, it’s been consistent and I’ve been moving forward.”

Hackett will contest the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 metres at the trials in Sydney. He hopes to swim the individual events in the 400, 800 and 1500 at the world titles and in the 4 x 200 relay.

Hackett also believes, that despite a lack of training, Ian Thorpe is capable of making the team for this year’s world championships.

With the selection trials four weeks away, and Thorpe seemingly spending more time travelling the world than following the black line, speculation is that he will completely skip the trials and have a year free of competing.

“I haven’t spoken to him for a while,” Hackett said. “I’m not sure what he’s doing. Obviously, he’s not training much . . . he’s probably doing a few laps here and there.

“We had dinner up here in early January and he looks fit. He hasn’t put on any extra weight, so I think once he does get back into it, he’ll get fit pretty quickly . . . from the many years of training which he’s got under his belt.”

In Thorpe’s absence, Hackett would be favourite to win the 400 freestyle.

Hackett ready to take on the world

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Olympic and world swimming champion Grant Hackett believes his 10-week break from training after the Athens Olympics has not harmed his chances at this year’s World Championships in July.

Gold Coast based Hackett believed he may have had to take this year off after suffering health complications at the Athens Games.

But he said he was now fully recovered and was confident of strong performances in not only the 400 and 1,500 metre events in July, but the 800 metres as well.

“The eight (hundred) for me this year could be a very good event too,” he said.

“Everyone seems to be talking about the four (hundred) and the 15 (hundred) but I’m also very motivated and keen to do a personal best time in the eight.”

Hackett said he believed he could improve his performances, meaning he could press for a personal best, and therefore a new world record, in the 1,500 metres.

It’ll take a record to win, says Hackett

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Grant Hackett has always firmly believed he was capable of swimming 1500 metres faster than the astonishing world record of 14 minutes, 34.56 seconds he set in 2001.

He just didn’t realise he might have to do it in order to maintain his dominance in the endurance event.

Hackett has not been beaten in the 1500m since the 1996 Olympic trials and in July will attempt to become the first man to win four successive world titles in the same event. But he is aware that after several years of having about 50m separating himself and the silver medallist, the challengers have arrived.

In the Athens Olympics last August, Hackett was pushed for 30 laps by American Larsen Jensen and Briton David Davies.

He won by less than two seconds, as the young pair both shattered their previous best times in producing 14:45 swims.

“I know I’m going to have to go faster than 14:43 if I want to hold these guys off,” Hackett said. “And perhaps even 14:37 or maybe even quicker. They might surprise me like they did [in Athens] … I didn’t think they would go under 14:50, given their performances before the Olympic Games.
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“If they keep improving in the big increments that they have, I’m going to have to watch my back. And I am. These guys are young, hungry and very talented and seem to be moving forward all the time.

“I know I can swim faster than 14:34, when that will happen I’m not sure, but I know my training has improved a lot since I swum that in 2001.”

Asked whether it would take a world record to win the world title - the venue of the championships is likely to be decided in the next few days - Hackett said: “It’s certainly something that has crossed my mind, given that these guys have improved so much in such a short space of time. Maybe I can be pushed to a PB. I wouldn’t have swum 14:43 if they weren’t there last year. Having them close could push me down to that [world record] level. It’s something I have contemplated.

“How fast could I go? I don’t want to put a limit on it. I don’t want to say 14:29, because it could be faster than that or it could be slower. But at the end of the day, I know I can improve on 14:34.”

Hackett also knows the American and Briton will be ready for him. While the Queenslander took 10 weeks off after the Games, both Jensen and Davies were back in the water within two weeks of the closing ceremony.

But while he knows they will be motivated and training hard, he feels too that he will be ready in July.

“In the time frame I have been given, I will do everything I can to prepare, to make sure I’m the fittest for that 1500m freestyle, and I’ll make sure I put up a tough race,” he said.

“Whether I can get beaten or not, I’m not sure, that’s not the attitude I’m thinking about at the moment.

“My purpose is to prepare and prepare the best I can.

“I thought this time off would affect me more than it has. I had 10 weeks off, which I thought would put me behind. But at this stage my training has been pretty good, it’s been consistent.”

Hackett will contest the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m at the trials in Sydney.

If all goes to plan, he hopes to swim the individual events in the 400m, 800m and 1500m at the world titles and the 4 x 200m relay.

If history is any guide, one factor that shouldn’t be a problem, is the post-Olympic slump.

A year after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, at the world titles in Fukuoka, Japan, Hackett swam personal-best times - which remain his best - in the 400m, 800m and then broke Kieren Perkins’s 1500m world record by seven seconds.

Thorpe could be fit in no time, says Mr Endurance

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Grant Hackett believes that despite a lack of training, Ian Thorpe can make the team for this year’s world championships.

With the selection trials just four weeks away, and Thorpe seemingly spending more time travelling the world than following the black line, there has been speculation he will skip the trials and have a year free of competition. “I haven’t spoken to him for a while,” Hackett said. “I’m not sure what he’s doing. Obviously he’s not training much … he’s probably doing a few laps here and there.

“We had dinner … in early January and he looks fit. He hasn’t put on any extra weight, so I think once he does get back into it, he’ll get fit pretty quickly from the huge background from the many years of training which he’s got under his belt.

“If he wants to do it [compete at the trials], I think he possibly could. Whether he does or whether he thinks it’s the best thing for his career - missing it now is going to be good for Beijing - it’s up to him.”

Hackett backs team captain for big meets

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Olympic and world swimming champion Grant Hackett has endorsed Swimming Australia’s decision to appoint a team captain for major international meets.

Hackett believes the appointment will reflect the professional nature of the sport and what happens in other major sports in Australia.

But he would not answer questions on speculation that he is likely to be named captain of July’s World Championship team.

“For me I’ll support whoever does become team captain, and if it’s me I’ll certainly be honoured to take the role and look forward to leading the team throughout the next 12 months or whatever the time frame is for the captaincy until it comes up again,” he said.

Hackett says after he suffered a collapsed lung in Athens he thought he may be forced to take a year off.

But he has returned to the pool in better shape than he thought and is now confident the break has not set him back as far as it might have.

He says he was prepared for the worst.

“I thought I’d actually miss this season if my health wasn’t going to clear up by the end of 2004,” he said.

“I guess I just wanted to make sure to keep my eye on the bigger picture and I guess that’s in four years time and even the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

“For me writing off one season wasn’t going to be a big deal.”

Hackett likely captain

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TWO-time Olympic 1500m gold medallist Grant Hackett looms as the overwhelming favourite to fill the newly established role of captain of the Australian swimming team.

Swimming Australia voted unanimously to appoint a team captain next month for the first time in 24 years to lead the team into Julys World Championships.

In the past, however, two captains were appointed to the role with Max Metzker and Lisa Forrest in 1980 the last to fill the positions.

But from next month one swimmer will fill a role Swimming Australia hopes will carry similar esteem to other sporting teams, including cricket captain Ricky Ponting and Wallabies leader George Gregan.

Hackett, 24, is understood to be a clear frontrunner ahead of fellow veteran Brett Hawke.

At Athens, Hackett was part of an eight-member leadership group that comprised Hawke, Regan Harrison, Todd Pearson, Giaan Rooney, Brooke Hanson Sarah Ryan and Petria Thomas.