Grant Hackett is preparing to do a Hoogie on Ian Thorpe.

Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband remains the only swimmer to have broken one of Thorpe's world records in an Olympic-sized pool.

But Hackett wants to change all that during the national swimming championships, which kick off in Sydney on Saturday.

Van den Hoogenband wiped out Thorpe's world 200m freestyle record in a semi-final at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Hackett is gearing for an assault on the swimming superstar's 800m mark in the same pool next Thursday.

Thorpe has decided to bypass the 16-lap event during the national titles, preferring to focus on the 200m individual medley, a race he and new coach Tracey Menzies describe as his "novelty event".

But that decision could cost him his 800m world record.

Both swimmers went under the world record during the 2001 world titles in Fukuoka, Japan, but Thorpe won the toughest duel of the meet to claim the gold in 7m39.16s, just 1.18s ahead of his long-time rival.

The Fukuoka swim was a repeat of their clash at the national titles in Hobart just months earlier.

This time around, Hackett clearly has his sights on wiping out Thorpe's world record swimming virtually on his own.

He described his preparation for the eight-day meet at the Sydney Aquatic Centre as the best of his career.

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