:applaud::applaud::applaud:
Great news for swimming.
SYDNEY, Australia, February 1. IAN Thorpe, a four-time Swimming World Magazine World Swimmer of the Year, is expected to announce his return from a retirement dating back to Nov. 2006 according to Nicole Jeffery of the Australian.
First hinted at in May 2010, when Thorpe first dashed speculation of a comeback bid, Thorpe's expected return comes on the heels of Olympic silver medalist Geoff Huegill's remarkable return during which he first jumped back into the pool to lose nearly 100 pounds.
Thorpe, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, is 28 years old and stated he made up his mind to return in September 2010. He began the path back with a three-day trial, then committed to three weeks before stretching his training to three months.
"I made the decision back in September to return to competitive swimming," Thorpe said in a presser today. "I was taken to the swimming venue for the London Olympics, and I could taste it. I hadn't felt this way about swimming for a very long time. I didn't get back into the pool for any other reason than to be able to compete at the elite level."
Thorpe additionally revealed that he will be focusing on relay duty for Australia with the 100 and 200 freestyles as his primary events. He also explained that Swimming Australia head coach Leigh Nugent has been coaching Thorpe via text messages with his training plan, while Thorpe rotated through eight different pools to eliminate the chance that anyone would notice that he was back to full training.
"Australia is struggling a little bit for a really strong international competitor in the pool. Someone like Ian will bolster the team - if he is back it will be extraordinary," two-time Olympic gold medalist Kieren Perkins told the Australian.
Thorpe will need to file his paperwork with FINA at least nine months before Australia's Olympic Trials, which means his paperwork would need to be in towards the end of May.
www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../26372.asp
Here is my take. First I love the guy, awesome swimmer, one of my favorites. However, the 100 & 200 are DEEP events, LOTS of good swimmers, and likely to be even deeper by 2012. Thorpe is not a sprinter (true) and I don't see him being a major player in the 100, no more than a relay swimmer maybe. I could maybe see him finaling in the 200, but no where near medaling. 400 is to far and too fast now.
Just my .02
Good for him! Actually, it's probably in his best interest since we all know how he looks now.
He's going to have do get back into shape first...
Well, he didn't let himself go as much as his Syndey Geoff H who is doing pretty well in the 100 fly. It might have taken a team for Geoff to get back in shape which is really less inspiring. Did Geoff have a team to help him or did he lose the weight without help?
On the Thorpe photo, he only looked obese withing elite swimming circles. The guy doesn't have the baby bump look. He just has the pear shape on the sides. He could have been worse.
I wonder how many of these comebacks are influenced by the return to normal suits. Whatever the reason, I'm glad to see some big names coming back.
Hopefully he'll do as well as Lance did in his comeback, although Ian has had a longer break...
He better start working hard. The last photo I saw of him he was looking pretty soft! I certainly wouldn't bet against Thorpe, though.
He can't hide behind body suits like he did in 2000 and 2004. I was shocked when I saw that I saw that he wasn't as ripped as I thought when the cameras caught him without his bodysuit in 2004. Overall, he just showed that you don't need the best body to be the best swimmer.
On his comeback, I think that he will make the Aussie team because they don't seem to have any good freestylers right now? Correct? Not sure! But, he might find it tough to medal with all the competition that has been grinding it out in the pool for the last 4 or 5 years.
