Hackett ‘alive and sober’ after disappearing

Olympic swimming great Grant Hackett (pictured, AFP) is “alive and sober”, his father told media yesterday after he went missing following a family bustup, sparking fears for his safety.

Hackett’s father Neville said Australia’s troubled former 1500m world record-holder, who was briefly detained this week after a domestic incident, was in contact ntact with police.

“Police officers are happy he’s alive and sober,” er,” Neville Hackett said, accordingg to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation oration (ABC). “He’s told the police officers ficers he just wants to hide from m everybody.”

Hackett’s t’s father raised the alarm m earlier yest e rd a y a f t e r hi s “mentallyy di s - turbed” son, 36, failed to turn up for a p p o i n t - ments with th a doctor and a lawyer. Hackett had posted a picture on social media showing himself with a black eye, and accused his brother of beating him up. “He’s in hiding from everybody, including us,” Hackett’s father said. “I think he’s very, very embarrassed, but let’s see how things go.” The double Olympic gold medallist was released without charge o on Wednesday after his fam family called police followingfollowin a reported bout of heav heavy drinking which led t to “uncontrollable rage”. His brother, Craig,Crai said the former swim swimmer h a d ment a l health problems andan was no longer the pe person he once knew. Yesterday, HackettHacke posted a picture of him himself on Instagram show showing a cut and blackene blackened right eye, and dry blood on his nose. “My brother comments to the media . . . but does anyone know he beat the sh— out of me,” Hackett wrote in the caption.

Hackett came out of six years of troubled retirement in 2014 in a bid to make the Rio Games, hoping to become the oldest Australian swimmer to qualify for an Olympics.

But he narrowly missed out on a berth and after the Olympic trials in Adelaide last April, he hit the headlines again after a meltdown on a plane.

‘Not the Grant we know’

Hackett was accused of drunkenly squeezing the nipple of a fellow business-class passenger in an embarrassing incident which prompted him to vow to quit drinking.

“This is now a chronic problem . . . so, from a mental health perspective, I hope something can be done,” Craig Hackett said on Wednesday. “This is not Grant Hackett, this is a completely different person. I don’t know this person, my mum and dad don’t know this person.

“He’s there in body, but he is not there in mind, in soul, or spirit,” he said.

Hackett mumbled a few words to reporters after his release, saying he was “not great” and “probably needed to” go into rehab.

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates and Swimming Australia both offered their support.

“We are concerned for Grant’s welfare,” Coates said in a statement. “This is not the Grant we know and respect.

“Grant is a great Olympic champion, one of the greatest swimmers of all time . . . We hope he can overcome his current challenges.”

Swimming Australia chief executive Mark Anderson added: “Given these recent circumstances, we once again reached out to Grant and his family to continue to offer support and assistance in any way we can.”