SINGAPORE, (Reuters) – Five-times Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe finished a disappointing seventh in the final of the 100 metres individual medley in a World Cup event yesterday on a tough first day back in competition after five years away.
The 29-year-old Australian, who hopes to qualify for next year’s Olympics, started well with the butterfly leg before losing ground on the backstroke and then struggling with the breaststroke as he finished second-last in an event he rarely swam prior to retirement.
“I’m really pleased with the first 50, the fly leg was great, the backstroke was great and I’m really happy with the underwater work tonight,” Thorpe told reporters.
“I was doing really well and then the breaststroke happened. It wasn’t so bad this morning. It is something I can work on.”
South African Chad Le Clos, 19, won the race with a time of 53.06 seconds, with Thorpe three-and-a-half seconds back in one of the worst results of his illustrious career.
“I looked up to him growing up, his career talks for itself,” Le Clos said of Thorpe.
“I don’t know if you can call it a win, exactly, because he is still obviously nowhere near his best but, to beat him, I’ll take it.”
Earlier, Thorpe, despite complaining of suffering more nerves than usual, had said he was happy with his sixth-place finish across the heats in his first race back.
Before the final, Thorpe looked far more relaxed as he smiled his way through what appeared to be a light-hearted conversation with Austrian Markus Rogan before taking of his blue T-shirt to reveal his impressive physique.
