About Grant Hackett
Grant George Hackett OAM is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to be regarded as one of the greatest distance swimmers in history. He also collected a gold medal in Sydney for swimming in the heats of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. He was well regarded for his versatility, and has held the long course world records in the 200 m, 800 m, and 1500 m freestyle events. He dominated the 1500 m event for a decade, being undefeated in the event in finals from 1996 until the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. In total, he won 10 long-course world championship gold medals. Hackett first achieved prominence on debut at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships, where he first won the 1500 metres. He also won the 400 m freestyle, recording his only international victory over the yet-to-be-famous Ian Thorpe at the distance in international long course competition. During the 1998 World Championships, he again won the 1500 m but was narrowly upset by Thorpe in the 400 m.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.