An embarrassed Grant Hackett admits he has "stuffed up" again and says he's working on his issues after an altercation with a fellow passenger on a domestic flight.
The Olympic swimmer has offered an unreserved apology to the man who accused Hackett of grabbing and twisting his nipple on the flight from Adelaide to Melbourne on Sunday.
"I seriously and genuinely regret my poor behaviour," Hackett said in a statement on Monday.
"I have stuffed up more than once and am working on these issues.
"It is embarrassing to hear and read the consequences of my actions.
"I apologise unreservedly to the gentleman on the flight. I am trying to make direct contact with him personally."
The three-time Olympic gold medallist was questioned by Australian Federal Police after the Virgin Australia flight landed in Melbourne on Sunday.
Collingwood AFL chief executive Gary Pert, who sat across the aisle from Hackett on the flight, says the swimmer wasn't aggressive but appeared to be affected by alcohol to the point of being "incapacitated".
The onboard incident was apparently sparked by a passenger in front of Hackett reclining his seat.
The passenger says Hackett reached through the gap between the seats and grabbed his chest and tweaked his nipple in what he described as "sexual assault."
News Corp reported on Monday evening that Hackett had spoken to the man who would not press charges.
Hackett was returning from Adelaide where he had been competing in Australia's Olympic trials but failed to win selection.
Former Olympic teammate Geoff Huegill says Hackett can no longer be a mentor for young elite swimmers.
While Huegill defended Hackett and called for critics to lay off him, he also said the 35-year-old might need to seek help.
"The only words of advice I can pass onto Grant is to take time out again and if it means you need to head away and revisit some of the facilities of the past, then don't be afraid to put your hand up and say you need help," Huegill wrote on Facebook on Monday.
Huegill last week urged Hackett not to walk away from swimming after he failed to make the Olympic team.
He had backed a similar call by Australian swimming head coach Jacco Verhaeren for Hackett to stay on as a mentor to young stars.
"Of course, I now have to retract that statement," Huegill said.
But Huegill also leapt to Hackett's defence.
"At one stage or another we all stumble and fall," he said in the Facebook post.
Hackett previously found himself under scrutiny after he trashed the Melbourne apartment he shared with former wife Candice Alley in 2011.
Three years later, he went to a US rehabilitation centre for treatment for sleeping pill addiction after he was photographed partially dressed searching for his young son at a hotel.
Hackett had worked as a guest commentator for the Seven Network at last week's Olympic trials and it was believed he had been in talks about commentating at the Rio Games.
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