Australia's swimming great Grant Hackett sues lawyers over prenup

Australian Olympic champion freestyler Grant Hackett is suing his lawyers over a costly prenuptial agreement after his marriage ended with a drunken rampage, reports said yesterday.

Hackett and Candice Alley split in May after five years together. He had trashed his apartment the previous October, prompting her to call the police.

Police photographs of the damage were published, after which Hackett was dumped as an ambassador for a children's anti-violence charity. He had upended a piano and furniture, smashed a door and put holes in walls of the apartment. The 1,500-metre freestyle champion at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympics - a dominant force in the event for a decade - now accuses his former lawyers of drawing up a "defective" prenuptial agreement.

"As a result of the breaches … [Hackett] has suffered loss including legal costs," documents lodged by Hackett in the Supreme Court of Victoria said, according to News Limited newspapers. "[His] loss is continuing."

The reports said Hackett's personal fortune was put at some A$8 million (HK$64.3 million) and he was seeking a finding of negligence against his lawyers, along with compensation.

In June, he said he was trying to restore his reputation and did not blame alcohol for his actions.

"I will be defined by my actions moving forward and I hope people take the time to judge me on that, and I'm very, very determined to turn that around," he said. "I was drunk, I think the alcohol exaggerated or exacerbated the emotions of that night and made it worse. But I don't blame that, I blame myself."