Australian swimming great Grant Hackett is suing his lawyers over a costly pre-nuptial agreement after his marriage ended with a drunken rampage, reports said yesterday.

After five years together, Hackett and Candice Alley split in May. He had trashed his apartment the previous October in an alcohol-fuelled blowout, prompting his wife to call the police.

Police photographs of the damage were published after which Hackett was dumped as an ambassador for a children’s anti-violence charity. He had upended a piano and furniture, smashed a door and put holes in the walls.

The 1,500m freestyle champion at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and dominant force in the event for a decade now accuses his former solicitors of drawing up a “defective” pre-nuptial agreement.

“As a result of the breaches... the Plaintiff (Hackett) has suffered loss including legal costs,” legal documents lodged by Hackett in the Supreme Court of Victoria said, according to News Limited newspapers.

“The Plaintiff’s loss is continuing.”

The newspapers said Hackett’s personal fortune was estimated at some Aus$8 million (US$8.3 million) and he was seeking a finding of negligence against his solicitors along with compensation.

In June, Hackett said he was working to restore his reputation and did not blame alcohol for his actions.

“I will be defined by my actions moving forward and I hope people take the time to judge me on that and I’m very, very determined to turn that around,” he said.

“I was drunk, I think the alcohol exaggerated or exacerbated the emotions of that night and made it worse. But I don’t blame that, I blame myself.”