AMSTERDAM: Olympic 100m freestyle champion Pieter van den Hoogenband is to drop the 200m from his Beijing program to concentrate on winning the 100 title for the third successive time.

Van den Hoogenband, who won the title in Sydney and Athens is competing with Australian Grant Hackett to become the first male swimmer to win three successive Olympic titles in the same event.

Hackett is seeking a hat-trick of 1500m freestyle titles.

Van den Hoogenband dropped the 200m freestyle because the final on Aug 12 is just hours before qualifying for the 100m freestyle begins, Dutch daily De Telegraaf reported on Sunday.

The final for the 100m freestyle is on Aug 14, while the 1500m final is on Aug 17.

Van den Hoogenband, who completed the 100m-200m freestyle double at Sydney, said he would also swim the 4x100m freestyle relay in Beijing.

Source:China Daily