Beijing will be my third Olympics, and the biggest difference for me between this Games and Athens or Sydney is my level of experience.

In some respects, there is more pressure on me this time, but I feel more relaxed because I've been through this process twice before. I think that may be the biggest advantage I have over some of my competitors - I have been in this situation before, I've made mistakes and I've learnt from them.

When I look back on my career, my best years of swimming were 2001 and 2005 because I was able to take the experiences of Sydney and Athens into the following years. This was when I used those lessons to my best advantage and came up with my best times.

I have looked at what I did differently in those years and tried to transfer those experiences to this preparation. I think this time I haven't got over-anxious about training, I have been more relaxed about my focus and how to get the most out of myself; I have realised that I can only get what I can get out of my performances.

By that I mean I can only turn around at the end of my races and look at the scoreboard and, regardless of the result, have no regrets because I put in everything I could.

I will know that I used everything I had learnt from those previous experiences to get the best out of myself and give the best for my country and myself.

Of my first two Olympics, my 1500 metres race against Kieren Perkins in Sydney probably carried the most personal pressure. (Hackett won gold, more than five seconds clear of Perkins in second place.)

Going into those games, a journalist wrote a story about me saying that I might as well be an American because I was racing a national icon and everyone would be cheering for him. I should not have taken this personally but I did. It hurt me at a time when I really needed a lift.

Kieren was the undisputed king of the sport and was pursuing a dream. In a twist of fate, it's the same dream I am now trying to realise. I was offended because I was so proud to be representing my country at an Olympic Games and wanted to do well. I wanted Australia to be proud of me.

Now as a mature man, I have more understanding of the situation, and it's one that may be reversed in Beijing. The tide does change and I have been lucky to enjoy a lot of public support from Australia.

I can laugh now and understand the journalist's intention, but in the heightened anxiety of the Olympics, I found the comments offensive because I am so proud to race for my country, and competing in front of a home crowd was my dream. All of that created enormous pressure.

Before Sydney, I had wanted to win an Olympic gold for Australia all my life, and as it turned out, I was going to have to beat a local hero to do it. It was a tough situation because if I beat Kieren, I had dashed the hopes of the country, and if I didn't win, people would have questioned my ability at that level.

To this day, I firmly believe it shouldn't matter who you are - if you're Australian and you're out there giving it your best shot, you should be given equal support.

Athens was tough, too, with the illness I had (a partially collapsed lung). I had been pretty sick earlier in 2004 but we kept everything under wraps because I didn't want to be the sort of athlete who has an excuse before they race. I put pressure on myself but it was to get the job done (Hackett won a tight race).

One thing I have tried to do differently this preparation is look after the little things a bit better, and some of the methods I have undertaken have caused a bit of a stir in the media.

I have worked hard on my personal hygiene and looked at ways of minimising the risk of getting sick, something not uncommon for an athlete these days in a sporting world where the smallest difference in preparation can decide who wins and who loses.

As has been reported, I have been avoiding crowds in winter, because a greater number of people carry viruses and colds at this time. I have also been wearing a respiratory mask on planes. I am surprised by the media reaction: most members of the swim team have been wearing them for about six years.

Not marching is nothing new as I aim to do my best

I HAVE copped a bit of flak about my decision not to march in the opening ceremony. Unfortunately, I have never been able to march in an opening ceremony because of the program with swimming starting the next day and the 400 metres freestyle being in the first session.

It's a privilege I wish I could take up, to march with other athletes from our country and around the world but I have trained all my life to be a successful swimmer, and I wouldn't do anything to sacrifice my performance. To me that would be irresponsible to my country and everybody who has helped me get to this level in the first place.

To participate in the opening ceremony is a commitment of about eight hours, mostly on your feet, that ends after midnight on a day I would later have to race.

Could you imagine the reception I would get from the media if I decided to march and then couldn't perform at my best the next day? I don't think anyone would be giving me or any other athlete a leave pass on performance, and it is disappointing when people question your patriotism and commitment to the cause when by resting and not marching, that is exactly what you are doing - demonstrating commitment to the task at hand.

One journalist even compared my decision not to march with Cathy Freeman's honour of lighting the cauldron in Sydney, questioning what would have happened if she chose not to participate. That question will never be answered but I reckon if Cathy's 400m final on the track was less than 24 hours after the ceremony, not on day 11 as it was in Sydney, she too may have taken action so as not to sacrifice what she is there for - her best performance.

Grant Hackett