level 12
ian天使
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April 11, 2007First the wedding, then the honeymoon.Then Grant Hackett will be off chasing racing around the globe as he tries to regain his distance swimming mojo ahead of the Beijing Olympics.The once-unbeatable Hackett was hopelessly out of sorts at the recent world championships in Melbourne, beaten in his pet 1500m for the first time in a decade as he struggled for form and fitness.After his wedding later this week to singer Candice Alley and a short honeymoon, Hackett will spend the next few months competing in meets in Europe and Japan in an attempt to turn his swimming around.The 26-year-old was today named in a 30-strong Australian team for the three-meet Mare Nostrum series in Europe in June.Hackett will also race in Japan in August as he searches for the tough competition he hopes will refloat his hopes for a third successive Olympic 1500m gold medal.Hackett's new coach Ian Pope, who took over his program following his surprise pre-worlds move to Melbourne, said his charge was ready to fight back to the top of the sport."He'll come back fighting like a bull, don't worry about that," Pope told AAP."I have no doubt."Grant and I met for a couple of hours yesterday, we've talked about the next couple of months and all the way through to Beijing."One of the things he's lacked over the past 18 months is some really good racing especially with his shoulder problem, so it's pretty important leading into Beijing."We'll build back into it after his honeymoon, and he's enjoying his time out because really the next 18 months is pretty full-on from here."Hackett is likely to concentrate mainly on the 200m and 400m just to get much-needed competition, though Pope is keen to find a 1,500m on one of the Mare Nostrum programs.Hackett joins Australia's leading female swimmers Libby Lenton, Leisel Jones and Jodie Henry on the Australian team for the Mare Nostrum series, which starts in Canet, France on June 9 and 10.Other meets will be held in Barcelona (June 13-14) and Monaco (June 16-17).The Australian squad will feature 22 swimmers who swam at this year's world championships, with more swimmers likely to be added to the squad within two weeks.The squad is: Bronte Barratt, Leith Brodie, Grant Hackett, Jodie Henry, Leisel Jones, Andrew Lauterstein, Libby Lenton, Linda Mackenzie, Alice Mills, Kenrick Monk, Kylie Palmer, Jennifer Reilly, Stephanie Rice, Brenton Rickard, Eamon Sullivan, Tayliah Zimmer, Andrew Mewing, Frances Adcock, Angie Bainbridge, Craig Calder, Alicia Coutts, Ashley Delaney, Nick Ffrost, Sally Foster, Felicity Galvez, Belinda Hocking, Kirk Palmer, Cameron Prosser, Tarnee White, Stephanie Williams.
2007年04月11日 07点04分
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