Hackett Exploring Options for Upcoming Year

MELBOURNE, Australia, January 4. ALTHOUGH it’s a scenario hardly etched in stone, Grant Hackett could compete at this summer’s Pan Pacific Championships. Recently back in the water for light training after undergoing shoulder surgery, there’s a chance Hackett will attempt to qualify for Pan Pacs in the 10-kilometer open water swim. The Australian Open Water Championships are slated for April in Sydney.

By missing the Commonwealth Games Trials that begin at the end of the month, Hackett will not be eligible for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. More, his absence from the Commonwealth Trials originally seemed to guarantee his missing the Pan Pacs. But, if Hackett can finish first or second in the 10-kilometer race, he would then be eligible for selection for the pool events, including the 400 and 1,500 freestyles. It’s not yet clear whether Hackett will race in the open-water competition. Certainly, he will not push his recovery at an ill-advised rate.

"It's interesting, but we don't want to be pushed or motivated to try to fast-track the recovery or do anything outside of what we had intended to do," said coach Dennis Cotterell in a story that ran in the Sydney Morning Herald. "But if he fell into it … well, April is another couple of months away. Look, it's not absolutely impossible, and definitely we'll give it some thought. It's still a matter of swimming 10K, hard, in April. We'll wait and see, but I'm not ruling it out, that's for sure."

Hackett’s interest in open-water swimming hinges, in part, on the fact that the discipline will be included in the program at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Hackett has indicated that he would consider contesting events in the pool, as well as in the open water. There’s little doubt that Hackett would be a major player in the open water considering his staying power and mental strength.

"He's been back about four sessions now, just a (kilometer) here, a (kilometer) and a half there," Cotterell said of Hackett’s return to training after about two months away. "He's just got to get through the initial soreness because he hasn't done anything for a while, and there is post-surgery stickiness that exists. It will probably take two months, then I'd say after two months he'll want to start going. I can't make decisions as to what he competes at, probably for two months, maybe even three, until I see how he's actually going."

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