Hackett cleared for return to competition

Long distance swimmer Grant Hackett has been cleared to return to competition at the Australian short-course championships this month.

The multiple world and Olympic champion has not competed seriously since last year's world championships in Montreal after undergoing surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right shoulder.

He missed this year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne but resumed heavy training shortly after and his manager Lisa Stallard said he was now ready to resume competition.

Hackett is already the most successful endurance swimmer in history.

Unbeaten over 1,500 metres freestyle since 1996, his world record of 14 minutes, 34.56 seconds is more than seven seconds faster than anyone else has ever swum. Hackett has set his sights on winning a fifth 1,500m title at next year's world championships in Melbourne and a third Olympic gold medal at Beijing in 2008.