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Perkins says he will swim in Sydney
Posted: Wednesday December 08, 1999 10:35 AM
SYDNEY (Reuters) -- Australia's Kieren Perkins, one of swimming's greatest ever competitors, has vowed to continue in his sport for another year despite growing concerns about his health. The 26-year-old, who won the 1,500 meter freestyle titles at the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Games, said he was prepared to put himself through another year of 'torture" in the vain hope of winning a third gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. If he does that, Perkins would become the first male swimmer to win the same event at three different Olympics. The only women to have achieved three wins are Australia's Dawn Fraser (1956, 60, 64) and Hungary's Krisztina Egerszegi (1988, 92, 96). "I wouldn't put myself and my family through that sort of torture if I didn't honestly believe that I can be there next year," Perkins said on Wednesday. "I [believe] I have a very good chance of winning the event." Perkins, who also holds the current world record for 1,500m, said he had made up his mind to plough on after finishing second to Australian Grant Hackett at last week's U.S. Open in Texas. Perkins has never beaten Hackett, the reigning world champion, over 30 laps since the 18-year-old burst onto the international scene in 1997, although he finished within five seconds of him at San Antonio. Hackett, though, was unshaven and untapered and clearly well below his best. And while he is rapidly closing in on Perkins' five-year-old world record of 14 minutes 41.66 seconds, Perkins has not broken the 15 minute mark in over three years. Perkins' coach John Carew said he was worried about the effect that the years of long-distance training were having on his star pupil as he pushed ahead towards Sydney. "I've never seen him look so bad. He's done a lot of training over the years and maybe his immune system is not as good as what it should be," Carew said. "He spent three days in isolation during the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur last year and he simply shouldn't have raced during the recent Pan Pacs," he said. "I'm not going to talk about the Olympics. All I'm interested in is for him to stay healthy."
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