Saturday, August 16, 2008 - 12:24 PM

Australia's head swim coach says Grant Hackett is fit and ready to take on the world's best in the final of the 1,500 metres on Sunday morning.

Rumours of Hackett suffering from a respiratory illness were blown away last night as the two-time gold medallist set an Olympic record to qualify fastest for the final in a time of 14 minutes 38.92 seconds.

"I don't really know where those rumours came from," said head coach Alan Thompson.

"He had a bit of sinus stuff a couple of days ago, but he's been pretty good."

Thompson says Hackett's swim has set Sunday's final up as an epic battle.

"Never before has there been a final where everyone's had to go under 15 minutes (to qualify)," he said.

"Never before has there been a final where everyone's had to go as fast as that. So it's not just going to be, who is the fastest swimmer. It's going to be who can be the fastest swimmer twice."

After his race, Hackett said he had not known how fast he had been going.

"I had to go out there and swim a good pace tonight, place a good time, and it's just a matter of getting ready for the final," Hackett said.

"I was very surprised. I thought it was about seven seconds slower than the pace I was doing."

Thompson says all of the swimmers in the race will be focusing on their recovery regime ahead of the morning final.

"That's going to be the real killer," he said. "Who can back up, who can recover the best? It matters how you pull up again on Sunday."

Thompson said Hackett was a strong chance in the final, but by no means the favourite.

"We won't count our chickens before they're hatched," he said.

"The whole of Australia will be supporting Grant on Sunday in (his) quest. He'll be doing his darnedest."