A Sept. 16, 2000 photo of Australian swimming champion Ian Thorpe as he celebrates winning gold in the 400m freestyle on the first day of competition at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. (AAP Photos/Julian Smith, File).
Ian Thorpe has ended months of speculation by announcing his return to swimming today, just in time for the 2012 London Olympics. It’s a much-needed boost for Australian swimming, which has been on a steady decline since Thorpe’s retirement four years ago.
The men’s team won only two individual gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, dwarfed by the 12 the women’s team claimed. Of the 22 medals the swimming team won in Delhi, the women’s team won 16. The Aussie men failed to win any gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics – a far cry from the success enjoyed between 1996 and 2004. With the Americans pulling away at the top of the sport, Europe a constant threat and the ever-improving Asian challenge, Australia isn’t the force it used to be in one of its most popular and culturally important sports.
Moreover, Australian swimming needs another hero. Geoff Huegill provided the feel-good story of Australian sport in 2010, shedding 40 kilograms in his return to the pool after a two-year absence to win Commonwealth Games gold in the men’s 100m fly, but at 31 years of age (33 by the time of the London Olympics) it remains to be seen how long he can extend his comeback. Meanwhile, the Stephanie Rice-Eamon Sullivan generation have failed to capture Australian hearts. Australian swimming’s current generation, bar Huegill, lacks the presence of Thorpe. Beyond Huegill and Sullivan, whose celebrity out of the pool has inflated his perception, you’d be hard pressed to find a current Aussie male swimmer that can be classified as a household name.
Whether Thorpe’s return can in any way improve the fortunes of the men’s team remains to be seen, but coupled with Libby Trickett’s recently announced comeback, it gives Australian swimming a significant shot in the arm at a time when it desperately needs its heroes and the injection of corporate and public support heading into an Olympic year.
At 28 years of age, Thorpe is young enough to successfully comeback. He’ll still be in his twenties come London 2012 – a significant advantage he has over the likes of Lance Armstrong, Mark Spitz and Michael Schumacher, who made their comebacks in their late thirties/early forties and failed. (Note: Schumacher’s comeback is still going, but his first season back delivered little in the way of results.)
But is he hungry enough? Thorpe walked away from the sport to pursue a life beyond the pool, lacking the motivation to continue. But no one can blame him for his early retirement. Swimming demands an early start in life (Thorpe first represented Australia at 14), with its relentless 5am starts and the loneliness of swimming lap after lap with just the company of your own thoughts. It’s little wonder the likes of Thorpe, Trickett and Huegill have fallen out of love with the sport and yearned for a break.
Others claim Thorpe’s comeback is motivated by financial reasons, having fallen on tough times in his business dealings. Even though Thorpe denied it in his press conference, the fact his comeback was announced via a Virgin Blue-backed presser, complete with hostesses handing out the mics, showed that he has some serious corporate backing behind him. Only he knows the truth. But, given Huegill’s led, you sense Thorpe’s competitive juices are flowing.
Interestingly, Thorpe says he will focus his attention on the shorter distance formats, namely the individual 100m freestyle and 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m relays. It’s interesting because by moving away his 200m and 400m freestyle pet events, Thorpe avoids a direct clash with Michael Phelps, the American who dominated the Beijing Games with eight golds and has bettered the 200m freestyle world record that Thorpe once owned.
Hopefully Thorpe is tempted back to his pet events, for a head-to-head clash with Phelps would add an extra dimension to his comeback and set the stage for the most eagerly anticipated contest of the London Games.
He still has age on his side, and even though his infamous full body suit won’t be making a comeback – the suits having been outlawed by governing body FINA – he still possesses those size 17 feet that produced the most powerful kick seen in swimming. The rest will come down to his determination.
Will Thorpe’s comeback be a success or failure? A year after Huegill’s successful return, Australian men’s swimming suddenly has another, if not bigger, story to interest us.
Follow Adrian on twitter @AdrianMusolino
gg
Guest
Well said Samantha. We won relays to help bump up the count, but never the 'glamour' 100m freestyle. We've never had a 50 free gold medallist, 100 breast, 200 back, 100 butterfly, 200IM, 400IM or 4x100 medley relay in the men. Before Peirsol was Lenny Krayzelburg & he was dominant too so the US can dominate an event as a country.
Twatter
Guest
I think you will find with sports like Tennis and Swimming that they are becoming more global in todays society. I notice people jump up and down about the quality of Tennis players we produce or lack their of but some tend to forget Australia was a great Tennis nation when only the Americans,French ,Great British and the odd Spainiard played the game. Australian swimming is becoming more of part of a global pie and we are running around blaming anybody and everybody in this country. I believe unfortunately that Australia's success in 2012 will be limited in the pool both male and female as it was in Beijing , due to the fact that more nation's contest the sport. Where some will look at record books and not acknowledge that like Tennis only five other nations contested the sport when we were a successful nation at the sport.
Samantha
Guest
I agree with the poster Greg Russell, the Aussie were not as great in the past as the media has trumpeted. Most of the Aussie gold medals were either from Thorpe or Hackett but the media always seem to inflate the 'strength of Aussie male swimmers'. Compared to the US, Australia never had dominant male swimmers in individual events. The Aussies don't have a dominant backstroker like Aaron Peirsol and Ryan Lochte from US, a breastroker (Kitajima from Japan), a butterflyer (Phelps and Crocker from US), IM swimmer (Phelps again and Ryan Lochte) or distance swimmer (Cochrane from Canada and Peter Vanderkay from US). The Australian men rode on the coat tails of Thorpe for too long and when he retired, it really shown the lack of talent in Australian swimming. The comeback of Ian Thorpe is a little too late for Aussie men; I think they need to re-focus on training some fresh, young sprinters to strengthen the team. Thorpe should remain retired and let the young guns shine!
BigAl
Guest
pretty silly reference to the AFL there ! I remember Ian Thorpe being descibed as '...like a seal...' - just slid through the water but on land he basically just flubbed about. - hardly indicative of AFL Aussie rules potential career or any other land sport. Lots of swimmers would be like that.
Megaman
Guest
Is there any proof that the AFL steals all the biggest and brightest young talent? Isn't it up to each kid to decide and if sports like swimming did a better job at recruiting and enticing them then they wouldn't go to play AFL.
Greg Russell
Roar Guru
1. "It’s interesting because by moving away his 200m and 400m freestyle pet events, Thorpe avoids a direct clash with Michael Phelps ... Hopefully Thorpe is tempted back to his pet events, for a head-to-head clash with Phelps would add an extra dimension to his comeback and set the stage for the most eagerly anticipated contest of the London Games." Thorpe would be silly to take on Phelps head-to-head in these events, because with certainty he will lose. Park Tae-Hwan would also with certainty beat Thorpe over these distances. 2. "The Aussie men failed to win any gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics – a far cry from the success enjoyed between 1996 and 2004." I tire of this myth. Aussie men's swimming between 1996 and 2004 consisted of three great swimmers: Perkins, Hackett and Thorpe. Noone else won an individual Olympic gold. There was a bit more success in World Championships, with Klim shining bright in 1998 in Perth, and Huegill and Welsh having golden moments over non-Olympic distances in 2001 and 2003. But that's it in terms of individual success. There were a packet of relay golds, especially at WCs, but also at Olympics. All these involved Thorpe and to a lesser extent Hackett inputting crucial swims (who will ever forget Thorpe in the 4x100 free at Sydney). The truth is that even in this golden era we never had a deep team in men's swimming, but the sheer genius of Thorpe and to a lesser extent Hackett and Perkins obscured this. Our men's team never came near matching the team performance of the USA, whereas our women did, something that also obscured the inadequacies in the ranks of our men. The women had far greater depth, and a greater number of individual champions. Incidentally, most of the best female swimmers have come from Queensland (O'Neill, Trickett, Jones, Schipper, etc.). Even Petria Thomas was from Murwillumbah, which is pseudo-Qld. So one should almost better refer to it as Qld rather than Australian women's swimming. Why this imbalance between the sexes in swimming? It's pretty simple really: girls don't get recruited by AFL ... I wish Thorpey all the very best but my expectations for him are very modest, for he will find it incredibly tough.
jameswm
Guest
I sure hope he has a solid crack at the 200. His 100 time got down to the low-48s, which I guess is still competitive without the suits. Good luck to him. If he wants to do it, then do it. I agree it should inspire the rest of the men's team. Who wouldn't want to be in the 4x200 with Thorpie?
Spiro Zavos
Expert
First, it is great that Ian Thorpe is putting his reputation on the line as one of Australia's greatest swimmers and Olympians (one note, not THE) in this comeback. I don't care either if there is a financial aspect to the comeback. He has always been a champion in and out of the water, with tremendous performances and intelligent commentary about swimming, himself and life. Sportsbet has already jumped on the return giving odds of $1.30 that he will make the Olympic team and $1.50 NOT to win gold in any event to go along with the five he has already won. When the bookies bet against you achieving gold, you know that the journey is going to be a tough one. But that is what Thorpe has let himself in for. It is interesting, too, that the only demurring from the ranks of swimmers and former swimmers is Murray Rose, a great himself with four Olympic golds. I hope that Thorpe defeats the bookies odds and the Rose criticism. He is and always has been an adornment to the list of Australian sporting greats.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
This guy makes me proud to be an Australian. Such a champion swimmer and great man. Welcome back Thorpey, Long may you power through the water with long languid strokes and those flippers you call feet!
Republican
Guest
Twatter I partially agree, however I don't believe his expectations are to repeat his old form or indeed cover all disciplines. I reckon his presence alone will be enough to lift our team to greater heights, i.e. if he makes the cut, just in the relays.
Twatter
Guest
I have a great respect for the man for what he's achieved more importantly for himself and his nation. Am i seen as un australian to say that the task ahead is virtually impossible, taking into consideration it's more a young persons sport remember he was World Champion at 15. This is not like Heugill at the Comm Games swimming against people from Scotland and Uganda.