Grant Hackett made a successful return to the 1500 metres freestyle at the National Short Course swimming titles in Hobart last night, posting the second-fastest time in history.

Swimming in the event for the first time since a shoulder operation, Hackett swam the second-fastest time ever on the final night of competition.

The world champion posted a time of 14 minutes and 19.47 seconds, eclipsing Kieren Perkins’ time of 14:26.52 set in 1993, and said it was a relief to have swum a 1500-metre event again.

“[It’s] the second fastest I’ve ever swum that event so to get up there and do that, I’m not as unfit as I thought I was at this stage,” he said.

“I didn’t think I’d be swimming those sort of times given my preparation, and to come up here and do that and for 1,000 metres it felt pretty good, which is a lot further than I thought it would.”

On a fantastic night for Australian swimmers, Libby Lenton and Leisel Jones each broke world records in the 100m butterfly and 100m breast stroke respectively.

Jones swum a time of 1:03.86, bettering the world mark she set in Sunday’s semi-finals.

Jones said she wanted to become the first woman to swim under one minute and four seconds.

“I wanted to improve on the 1:04 and I probably didn’t think I had it in me,” she said.

“So I sort of just psyched myself up and found something that I didn’t think I had, so it was good.”

Lenton said her main aim was not to set a world record, but to beat defending champion Jessicah Schipper.

“[It’s] definitely nice to come in here and get a win in this kind of company,” she said.

“Obviously she’s in fantastic form coming off the Pan Pacs and I knew she’d be hard to be beat. But I really wanted to get one up on her.”

Meanwhile, Leith Brodie broke his second Australian record of the meet with a win in the 200 metres individual medley.

Australia’s head swimming coach Alan Thompson said he was pleased with the performances but said they don’t necessarily mean Australia will dominate at next year’s world championships in Melbourne.

“I don’t think that’s the case,” he said.

“I think the gauntlet’s been thrown down to us by the Germans, the Russians, the Americans and the Japanese. I think what this shows is that we’re prepared to answer the challenge and and the guys have stepped right up straight away.”

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