Five-time Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe informed the press in Sydney yesterday that he would return to professional swimming at the 2012 London Olympics. Thorpe announced the decision was already made in September last year, on the back of commentating at the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
The comeback marks a four-year absence from competitive swimming, the 2006 Commonwealth Games being his last appearance.
It was at this event where Thorpe wore his trademark long swim suit, however with the announcement of his return to the pool, Thorpe will swim for the first-time professionally minus his favoured apparel as new regulations prohibit athletes from wearing such swimwear.
This is one of many issues the Australian record breaker must face in preparation for the Olympic Games next year.
A packed press room in Sydney heard Thorpe would return to the pool with a focus on the shorter events. The 400m, his preferred distance, is out of the question according to Thorpe who says he has not given enough time to ready himself.
The 100m and 200m are in his sights, setting up the potential meeting with American superstar Michael Phelps.
During his career, Thorpe endured one of the sports great rivalries, going stroke to stroke with Dutchman Peter van Den Hoogenband. Phelps will be just as demanding, if not more.
Geoff Huegill knows what it takes to come out of retirement.
In 2008 he engineered what was to be one of the greatest sporting comebacks, at the same time silencing critics on his way to gold in his pet event, the 100m butterfly in Delhi last year. Huegill was quick to throw his support behind his Australian teammate, labelling him as a team leader and not just a great swimmer.
“A swimmer of his talent will lift the spirits of the team two or three notches. Ian Thorpe is a superstar, and his talent and experience would be a massive boost,” he said.
Huegill wasn’t the only to jump on the Thorpe bandwagon. Former great Kieren Perkins was extremely confident a refreshed Thorpe could regained the kind of form that saw him claim five Olympic gold.
“Absolutely,” Perkins told the Sunday Morning Herald.
“A guy of that quality and standard, there’s no question about his ability, it really will all come down to the time and effort he’s willing to put in.”
Being willing, however, may not get him over the line with the competition at the highest level heating up. As records continue to tumble, questions must be asked of his ability to match the times of the modern day champions.
One thing we know for sure: Thorpe will run himself into the ground trying to get this right, no one can debate that.
“My drive to perform at the London Olympics is bigger than how I feel about putting myself through this,” Thorpe told the Sydney press.
That comment in itself is a testament to the man we’ve become to know as “Thorpedo”, but is the drive to succeed enough to see Thorpe complete what would be a fairytale comeback?
Time will tell.
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