MONTREAL, July 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Australian Grant Hackett and Zimbabwean star Kirsty Coventry held up the FINA trophies here on Sunday as the top male and female swimmers after eight-day competition at the 11th FINA World Swimming Championships.

    Wearing the laurel of distance king, Hackett successfully captured men's 1,500 free title in Sunday's final to become the first swimmer in history to win the same event in four consecutive World Championships.

Men's overall top swimmer Grant Hackett of Australia (L) and women's overall top swimmer Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe hold their trophies during a ceremony at the World Aquatics Championships July 31. (AP)

    Besides, after finishing second in the 400m free at last three World Championships, the 25-year-old giant finally notched up the gold over this distance in Montreal, as his compatriot Ian Thorpe, the dominator in the event didn't show up at the World Championships.

    What's more, Hackett took a world record breaking win in the 800m free. He defended his world champion title at 7:38.65, smashing the previous world record of 7:39.16 established by Thorpe at 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka.

    Therefore, Hackett also became the first swimmer to win the 400m, the 800m and the 1,500m at one World Championships.

    "People talk about creating a bit of history and it's certainly an honor," Hackett said. "It's one of those career moments or meets that you savor. I'll be trying to emulate this in future meets."

    Meanwhile, Hackett added a 200m free silver and a 4x200m free relay bronze to his haul of medals.

    As for Coventry, the 21-year-old dominated women's backstrokes by winning in both the 100m and 200m events. Besides, Coventry also showed her versatility by collecting two silver medals from the 200m and 400m individual medley finals.

    With four medals in her hand, the American-based African swimmer said that she would go home for a two-week vacation.

    "I'm excited about my races here. I have good results and I have fun. Now, I just want to go home to stay with my family." Enditem