Australia swim star Hackett reveals he has asthma

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2007

SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian swim star Grant Hackett has revealed he is suffering from asthma, but he says the condition will not slow him down at next year's Beijing Olympics.

Hackett, 27, will compete in the 1,500 metres and 10 kilometres open-water races in Beijing, whose notorious air pollution has prompted warnings to endurance athletes.

The triple Olympic champion said he was pleased to have been diagnosed before the Olympics, adding that treatment could even help him swim faster.

"I have never had what you would call an asthma attack, but the doctors think I've always been a low-grade asthmatic," Hackett told The Australian.

"They say I just got used to having my breathing inhibited, and that it is exacerbated by swimming so hard and also by...