GRANT Hackett went close to breaking his own world record when he set a Victorian record in the men's 400-metre freestyle, at the Victorian shortcourse championships in Melbourne yesterday.

Fellow Olympian Leisel Jones finished second in the women's 200-metre individual medley to Shayne Reese, who will be competing in her second Olympics this year.

With 20 days to go before the Australian team enters the Aquatics Centre Cube in Beijing, Hackett finished 58 hundreths of a second off his own world record, set in Sydney in 2002, in three minutes 35.16 seconds. He will contest the 400 and 1500 freestyle events in Beijing.

"It was a good swim. One of the fastest times I've ever done and really close to the world record," Hackett, who wore a full body swim suit, said.

Jones lagged behind Reese for most of their race, but improved from fourth to second during the breaststroke laps. Jones, who is taking care not to aggravate a groin strain which has forced her to miss recent races, will compete in the 100 and 200 breaststroke in Beijing, holding the world record in both.