Grant Hackett weighing up his future

Grant Hackett, who won gold medals in the 1500 and 4x200 freestyle relay, won the 400 final in 3:42.49. He finshed an impressive five seconds clear of the field, and then revealed he was considering dropping the event.

Hackett briefly held the 200m world record and was a silver medallist over 400m at the 1998 world championships but the likes of compatriot Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband are now dominating middle-distance swimming.

When Fina, swimming's world governing body, announced it was adding the 800 to the men's programme at next year's world championships in Japan, Hackett decided to concentrate on the longer races.

"I have won every major title now, so I can sit back and relax and think about reaching my potential," Hackett said.

With most of the world's top swimmers only just starting to get back into heavy training after the Olympics, there were few stunning performances on the opening day.

The only competitor to go anywhere near a world record was Chinese breaststroker Luo Xuejuan. Her winning time of 1:06.18 in the women's 100 final was less than a second outside Penny Heyns's world best of 1:05.40.