Mr Grant Hackett OAM

Grant Hackett is a world 1500m freestyle champion. He went to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games hoping to make history as the first male swimmer ever to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the same event. It wasn’t to be - Hackett was touched out in the final of the 1500 metres freestyle by the Tunisian Oussama Mellouli by 0.69 sec., in the closest Olympic finish over the distance in 32 years.

The result gave Hackett a 1500m Olympic record equalling that of his former idol Kieren Perkins. Hackett ranks in the pantheon of great Australian swimmers, alongside Dawn Fraser, Ian Thorpe, Kieren Perkins, Murray Rose and Shane Gould.

Hackett, a keen surfer from the Gold Coast, ruled the distance between 1996 and 2000, winning the world, Commonwealth, Pan Pacific and Australian championships. His showdown with Kieren Perkins, who had won gold at Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) took place in the final of Sydney’s 2000 Games.

Attacking all the way, he beat Perkins into second place. Four years later, in Athens, he turned in the most heroic swim of the 2004 Games; dogged by respiratory problems, he overcame tough opposition to win his second 1500m gold medal.

Hackett has won 10 world championships.