Australia's Hackett rubbishes comparison to China's Sun

Australian long-distance swimming great Grant Hackett has hit out at his former mentor Denis Cotterell for suggesting controversial Chinese giant Sun Yang was as clean as he was.

Cotterell, an Australian, coached ex-Olympic and world 1500 metres champion Hackett through much of his career but now works with Sun, who has been targeted in anti-doping protests at the world championships in South Korea.

Triple Olympic champion Sun is facing allegations, outlined in a leaked FINA doping panel report, that he smashed vials of blood with a hammer when testers visited him last year.

He was cleared to compete in Gwangju but the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed the decision at the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, putting his career on the line.

It follows a three-month ban in 2014 after testing positive to a banned stimulant, which he claimed was for a heart issue.

Australian Mack Horton and Briton Duncan Scott refused to shake his hand in separate podium snubs in South Korea, but Cotterell came to his defence in an interview with The Australian newspaper on Thursday.

"I love working with an athlete who has paid their dues, has longevity and is still achieving," he said of Sun.

"If you think for a second I would be doing that with someone that is a cheat then people don't know me. That is an insult."
"My track record in comparison to Sun's is very, very different. I certainly wouldn't compare myself to Sun at any point in time."