Grant Hackett’s brother: ‘I don’t know this person’

UPDATE: Grant Hackett’s brother has revealed the family have reached “the end of the road” with the wayward star, while his dad said calling the police was the only option he had.

• Swimmer ‘flew into an uncontrollable rage’
• Hackett’s brother: ‘I don’t know this person’
• A downward spiral Hackett never escaped from

GRANT Hackett’s brother has revealed the family have reached ‘the end of the road’ with the wayward star.

The swimming champion was arrested at his parents’ Gold Coast home on Wednesday after becoming agitated and verbally abusive.

A dishevelled Hackett was taken to the Southport watchhouse in handcuffs before being released without charge later this afternoon.

The unshaven 1500m great was captured by news cameras slumped in the back of a police car as he was driven into the watch house before he raised his cuffs.

Craig Hackett, himself a talented athlete in his younger years, said his brother needed help and was not the man he knew.

“This isn’t Grant Hackett,” he said.”

“I don’t know this person.

“Mum and dad don’t know this person.

“He’s there in body, but he’s not there in mind, soul or spirit.”

He said the family was exasperated at Hackett’s increasingly erratic behaviour.

“This is now a chronic problem,” he said.

“We’ve reached the end of the road.

Grant Hackett leaves southport watchhouse after being arrested at the family's Mermaid Waters home. Picture: Gold Coast Bulletin

“We’ve tried everything we can.

“I hope something can be done.”

He said his brother needed urgent professional help.

“We’ve got to get a medical diagnosis.

“I feel for Mum and Dad.

“(They) have tried to look after him so much.

“He had the world at his feet ... such a role model to so many kids ... and now no one knows what’s going to happen.

“It doesn’t look promising but watch this space.”

Hackett’s dad Nev said calling the police on his own son was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do.

“I was a police officer for 40 years,” he said.

“It (this) has been really tough.

“We will do anything to help him.”

He said his son became abusive and verbally aggressive on Wednesday morning and that calling police was the only option he had.

“He comes over for a couple of days a time for Mum’s cooking ... he just became abusive and aggressive and wasn’t making any sense.

“Eventually I had to call the police and they settled him down.”

He said he thought his son was affected by alcohol at the time.

A three-time Olympic gold medallist and considered to be one of Australia’s greatest swimmers, Hackett has struggled with personal issues and addiction since initially retiring after 2008 Beijing Games.

He made a comeback in an unsuccessful bid to make the Rio Olympic team last year, only to be involved in a drunken incident on the flight back from the Adelaide trials and detained by police.

In 2014, he was filmed wandering through the Crown Casino in Melbourne in only his underwear claiming he was looking for his young son. That incident led to a five-week stint in rehab.

Speaking to reporters after his release this afternoon, Hackett admitted he was feeling “not great” and would be seeking help.

Nev said his son often failed to remember his episodes and the whole family faced a long road.

“We’ll support him the whole way,” he said.

“It’s hard for people with this sort of a problem. Not just Grant but it seems to be across the board.”

Swimming Australia president John Bertrand says Hackett has a problem with alcohol.

“Alcohol blows him away,” Bertrand told SEN radio in Melbourne.

“He is extremely sensitive to alcohol, much more dramatic than most people. In terms of being a drug addict, I don’t believe he is. But clearly he has demons.”

Bertrand said Hackett was doing well when they spoke before Christmas. “He was in a good space. He was doing an MBA at university and was excited ... for him to fall in a heap like this is a real setback for Grant.” Bertrand said Hackett would have all the support of the swimming fraternity, but “it’s still clearly a long road for this young fellow.”

Olympic teammate Libby Trickett admitted it was harder for former swimmers to keep on top of health issues once the exercise and endorphins stop.

“It’s incredibly sad,” she said of her former 2008 swimming team captain.