Dual Olympic 1500m freestyle champion Grant Hackett is resting, after undergoing a shoulder arthroscopy on his injured right shoulder in Melbourne on Tuesday evening.

The injury has ruled the Australian Swim Team Captain out of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March but he is expected to be back in the water sometime in December.

The surgeon, Dr Greg Hoy said the joint cartilage was in better condition than would be expected in this situation, and that the problem lay in the space around the outside of the tendons concerned.

Hackett declared before the surgery that he was excited about getting the niggling injury fixed and would now set his sights on a record third consecutive gold medal in the 1500m at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The 25-year-old world record holder at 800m and 1500m in the pool has also expressed an interest in contesting a new event on the Olympic program for Beijing, the 10km Open Water swim.