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Australia's former Olympic and world swimming champion Michael Klim announced his retirement from competitive swimming today.
Klim, 29, said he had decided to spend more time with his family despite the temptation to compete at next year's Beijing Olympics.
"I want to go to the Olympics and try to win gold medals and break world records for my country but I don't feel I've got that in me any more," he said.
Klim competed at three Olympics, winning six medals, including two relay golds at the Sydney 2000 Games during a 12-year international career.
He also won seven gold medals from four separate appearances at the world championships and held the individual world records for the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
Klim was named as the world's best male swimmer in 1998 when he won a then-record seven medals, including four golds, at the 1998 world championships in Perth.
The highlight of his career came at the Sydney Olympics when he broke Alexander Popov's world 100 freestyle record in the lead-off leg of the 4x100m freestyle relay to help Australia break the relay world record and defeat the United States for the first time to win the gold medal.
Klim, who is married to Balinese princess and former model Lindy Rama and has a baby daughter, said he had consulted his close friend and former teammate Ian Thorpe before deciding to retire. Thorpe surprisingly quit the sport last year, aged 24.
"He had some great suggestions and words of guidance, he has been through that tough period where there are times where you do have some regrets," Klim said.
"I probably could have pushed myself for another year just to qualify and be the only one to go to four Olympics in Australia but I felt like I wouldn't have done it for the right reasons."
- REUTERS
