Troubled swimming great Hackett back in training, but not for Rio

Troubled swimming great Hackett back in training, but not for Rio

SYDNEY - Olympic swimming great Grant Hackett is back training but says it is not a prelude to making a full comeback for the 2016 Rio Olympics, a report said on Sunday.

Grant Hackett of Australia, pictured during the 12th FINA World Championships in Melbourne, on April 1, 2007

Hackett, 34, retired in 2008 after winning the 1500m freestyle at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, and claimed four world titles in the event.

He is back in work under his old coach Denis Cotterell and has registered for drug testing. But Hackett said it was not a move to gain selection for the next Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

It has been a troubled time for the swim star who underwent rehab earlier this year after seeking help for an addiction to sleeping pills.

"Because I've been through so much this year, I just wanted to get back into the squad and enjoy a bit of time with the boys and the camaraderie," Hackett told Brisbane's Sunday Mail newspaper.

"I just want to get really fit. That is kind of my goal over the next six or seven months -- get to a good level of fitness again.

"Having a bit of time to put into a bit of swimming and gym work is good fun, that is all.

"Denis lets me swim with the squad in bits and pieces when I want to, that's good fun."

Hackett's life spiralled after his retirement from top-level swimming, including allegations he smashed up his Melbourne apartment.

After a messy divorce from singer-songwriter Candice Alley, he was then involved in an incident at a Melbourne casino earlier this year when he was photographed in a dazed state after one of his children escaped from his room.

But Hackett has now moved back to Queensland's Gold Coast and reconnected with his sporting roots.

He insisted, however, that he was not considering a return to racing.

"I would be 36 for Rio," he said. "That's probably just getting on a bit too much."

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