TITLE HAT-TRICKS?

Australia's Grant Hackett and Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands are both bidding to become the first male swimmers to win the same individual event at three Olympics.

Hackett, the undisputed king of long-distance swimming, is chasing a hat-trick of titles in the 1500 freestyle while van den Hoogenband is eyeing a third success in the 100 freestyle, despite losing his world record to Frenchman Alain Bernard.

"Sydney was tough, Athens was extremely tough and this will probably be harder again," Hackett said. "But I'm prepared to go to the well one more time and dig as deep as I can."

Van den Hoogenband also won the 200 in Sydney and claimed silver in Athens but pulled out of the event in Beijing, where he was due to race Phelps, to concentrate on the 100, which is looming as the race.

"My love for the 100 freestyle is that big that unfortunately I am forced to adjust my ambitions," he said. "I am no longer the young god of Sydney 2000. I am someone in his 30s, who has to use his resources sparingly."

The US and Australia, swimming's traditional rivals, are again certain to dominate events in Beijing with both teams flexing their muscles by parading their dazzling lineups of world record holders.

For all the speculation about who will win what, there is perhaps only one certainty; Beijing's space-age "Water Cube" pool will witness the fastest meet of all time.

The build-up to the Games has been dominated by a spate of world records that have coincided with the introduction of a controversial space-age bodysuit and given the manufacturers almost as much newspaper space as Phelps.