MELBOURNE, July 20: Australian swimmer Grant Hackett broke his own short-course 800 metres freestyle world record at a meet in Melbourne on Sunday.

Hackett took almost two seconds off his 2001 world mark, stopping the clock in seven minutes 23.42 seconds at the Victorian Short Course Championships.

The time was 1.86 seconds faster than the time of 7:25.28 he set in Perth in August 2001.

Hackett will be aiming to become the first male swimmer to win the same event at three successive Olympics when he contests the 1500 metres freestyle in Beijing next month.—Reuters