Australian swimming team captain Grant Hackett said in Beijing on Sunday that he was looking forward to competing against South Korean teenager Park Tae-hwan who defeated him at last year's World Aquatic Championships.

The 43-member Australian swimming team arrived at the Beijing international airport welcomed by a crowd of overwhelming journalists with cameras flashing unceasingly.

"It's very exciting. We are certainly looking forward to getting in the water in the next few days and doing well the final preparation," Hackett said after going out of the aisle first with the swimsuit under his trousers.

Being asked if he was confident to win a gold at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, the 28-year-old giant said, "I'm confident I can get the best out of myself. I have prepared very well. To compete against people like Park this time, I feel safe and ready to race."

In order to prepare his wedding and settle in Melbourne with his sweet heart, a distracted Hackett ended his races at the 2007 Melbourne World Championships with no gold and even suffered a lot in his prime event finishing a humbling seventh in the 1,500-meter freestyle race.

Talking about the 18-year-old Park, who beat the defending world champion in the 400-meter event last year, Hackett said, "Park is a very very good swimmer. I'm looking forward to compete against him again."

Hackett was expected to make a consecutive third win in the men's 1,500-meter event, then to become the first male swimmer to claim the title third time in a row in one event at the Olympic Games.

However, the long-distance king believed that he had much more rivals this time, naming American duo Peter Vanderkaay, Larsen Jensen and British David Davies, world champion Mateusz Sawrymowicz from Poland as his main rivals.

"You don't really know what it is going to be like until you have been there. It's certainly very different to any other event. At the end of the day I have got a job to do and I have to stay focused on that."

The men's 1,500-meter freestyle final is going to be held on August 17, the last competition day of swimming at the Beijing Games. Besides, Hackett is slated to take part in the 400-meter freestyle and three relay events.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2008)