World record primes Hackett for Olympic success - coach

SYDNEY: Grant Hackett's world short-course record in the 800m freestyle backed up fast times in training ahead of his bid for a third consecutive 1500m freestyle gold medal in Beijing, reports said Monday.

The 28-year-old Australian clocked 7 minutes 23.42 seconds in the 800m at the Victorian short-course championships in Melbourne on Sunday, slicing 1.86 seconds off the world record he set in Perth in August 2001.

Only 24 hours earlier, Hackett signaled the type of form he was in by producing a time of 3:35.16 in the 400m freestyle at the same meet, just 0.58 secs outside his 2002 world record.