Pain, swelling but Hackett op minor

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GRANT Hackett was last night resting after what was believed to be minor surgery to repair the injured shoulder that ended his Commonwealth Games campaign.

The dual-Olympic 1500m freestyle champion had surgery on his right shoulder at The Avenue hospital in Melbourne in a bid to end the pain he has swum with for almost a year.

Hackett announced on Monday that the injured shoulder would prevent him competing at the March Games.

His manager, Chris White, said the distance star was still waiting on a report from his surgeon, Dr Greg Hoy, late last night.

“Details are still a bit sketchy, but it appears the surgery was minor,” White said. “Grant is out of recovery. He’s in a bit of pain and there’s a bit of swelling, but we’re waiting to hear from his doctor.

“Until we get a report from the doctor, we can’t report any specific details.”

Hackett’s withdrawal from the Games could be to the benefit of Welshman David Davies, who is now favoured to take the Commonwealth 1500m crown. But Davies, 20, said he was gutted to learn of Hackett’s injury.

“If it does happen (that I win gold) the first thing that’s going to be mentioned about it is that Grant is not there,” Davies said

Hackett was optimistic about the surgery when he arrived at hospital earlier in the day, already talking about his comeback.

“I’m actually quite excited about the fact that I’m going to get fixed up and there’ll be no more niggling shoulder problems,” Hackett said.

“Hopefully the recovery is fast because I still really enjoy training and I miss it when I’m away from it.

“Next year I’m just going to put my head down and train because when you come back people think you automatically have a free pass to come back and be at the top.

“I’d love to have a comeback where I don’t get back to my best, but beyond it.”

Hackett said he hoped to be back in the water and working on his kicking by the end of December.

The world record holder said he had been buoyed by the support he had received from teammates and other sports stars, including cricketers Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke.

Hackett also urged his likely replacements to seize their opportunity at the Commonwealth Games.

“Concerning my events, it’s a great opportunity for a lot of younger athletes to step up and have a chance to make the team for an international event,” he said.

“I’d say to them, ‘Make the most of that because it doesn’t come around very often and I don’t intend to be out for too long’.”