Grant Hackett reveals the secrets he wish he knew in his pursuit of an Olympic three-peat

Tears, fears and torment. It’s all part of the journey when you’re chasing Olympic greatness. But Grant Hackett wants Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown to learn from his mistakes.

Kaylee McKeown, Ariarne Titmus three

In the quest to conquer uncharted waters by Australian swimmers in the modern Olympic era, golden girls Kaylee McKeown and Ariarne Titmus should heed the lessons of the pioneer who almost did it himself.

While the legendary Dawn Fraser is the only Australian to have won three straight Olympic gold medals, Kieren Perkins and Grant Hackett are the only Aussie swimmers to have come close since – each winning back-to-back gold then silver in their attempt at the illustrious three-peat.

That Olympic three-peat is now the stuff of dreams awaiting our golden girls, if they swim on to the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

After gold in Tokyo and Paris, Ariarne Titmus has lost her world record to 18-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh. Picture: Clive Rose/Getty Images

Each has plotted a different path since their heroic exploits at Paris last year.

Titmus embarked upon a full year training hiatus, settling into corporate gigs, sponsorship engagements, commentary roles and a taste of life-after-swimming before her planned training comeback in the coming months.

A lot has changed in a short time.

She’s lost her world record to 18-year-old Summer McIntosh and will return to training aged 24 and knowing she must somehow find another full second of speed just to challenge the new sensation.

You could certainly understand if the fire in the belly, the desire for three more years of mental and physical torture was suddenly replaced by contentment – much like Ian Thorpe after Athens 2004.

McKeown, 23, took just four months out of the pool after Paris. She moved back home to the Sunshine Coast after splitting from her long term partner Brendan Smith and joined a new squad having at one stage toyed with the idea of joining Titmus’s squad under Dean Boxall.

Kaylee McKeown returned to the pool at the Australian Championships in Adelaide. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

Her claims of motivational troubles, along with Mollie O’Callaghan, were a talking point of the trials in Adelaide this week prompting questions as to whether our greatest athletes were on the verge of burnout or breakdown.

Post Olympic blues is not uncommon in swimming, but exactly how hard is it to conquer Everest for a third time?

Hackett knows the pain, suffering and extreme commitment required to even give yourself a chance.

If he could change anything from his three-peat quest, it would be to say “no” more often, take more breaks and find the reason that will fuel your motivation.

“It gets really tough and your motivation is definitely a lot more up and down,” Hackett said.

“Three different Olympics and they all have different motivations. The first one I just badly wanted to be a gold medallist, that was my dream since I was a little kid and there was nothing that was going to get in my way to do everything within my power to be able to get that sort of result.

Grant Hackett spoiled Kieren Perkins hope of three consecutive gold medals at Sydney in 2000.

At Beijing eight years later, Hackett took silver after two golds at Sydney and Athens.

“The second Olympics I felt a lot more control. I knew what I was getting into and I was a lot more mature as an athlete … (but) I didn’t look after my health as well as I could have that year so I think I would’ve got better results.

“The four years coming into Beijing … it was getting really tough. My shoulders were always sore, I was always getting cortisone or having to be at the physio every five minutes. So it’s just mentally getting a little bit tougher overall but the thing that was probably driving me the most was I always knew I’d regret it if I didn’t push myself through the pain.

“I knew if I didn’t get myself there and didn’t give myself an opportunity to go for three in a row and be the first to do that I would’ve really regretted it.”

No regrets.

Can you suffer four more years of pain to avoid a lifetime of questions?

It sounds so easy. It ain’t.

So upon reflection, what would Hackett change if he, like Titmus or McKeown now, was plotting a path to ultimate swimming mortality?

“I would’ve reduced the amount of commitments that I took on,” he said.

“There’s a lot of eyeballs on you so that is a big load to carry and it’s a big load to carry for a long time, so I appreciate people wanting to have breaks or approach it differently.

“I probably absorbed too much of that pressure and thought about it too much rather than just focusing on swimming fast and getting the best out of myself.

Dawn Fraser is the only Australian swimmer to win gold at three consecutive Olympic Games

“I think I would’ve probably had a good break. Not a good break like a year off or four months off, but I think probably after the Commonwealth Games … I probably would’ve had two months off after that.

“Just mentally have a really good break. I think that would’ve positioned me much better for the two years coming into Beijing and I also would’ve watched the amount of commitments that I had outside of the pool and probably controlled that a lot more.

“I did have a lot of control of that but it seems it felt pretty endless through some periods where you were just getting pulled every which way and everyone thinks they’re the only one asking you to do something, but that’s not the case.”

And mentally, flip the narrative.

A back-to-back Olympic champ has nothing to prove. There is no pressure. Go back to the basics that inspired every lap as a teenager.

“The one thing I enjoyed after the Olympics was the opportunity to just swim fast,” he said.

“Getting back to the cool reason of why I was swimming. Of course I was there to win and produce great results, but a big part of me just wanted to see how fast I could actually go.

“I definitely think mentally if you’re in a better spot, you’re always gonna be producing better results.”

Originally published as Grant Hackett reveals the secrets he wish he knew in his pursuit of an Olympic three-peat