• Swimming

'Nervous' Thorpe finishes second on return to pool

ESPN staff
November 4, 2011
Ian Thorpe cut a relieved figure after finishing his race © PA Photos
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Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe admitted to feeling nervous as he marked his return to competitive swimming with a respectable second-placed finish at the FINA World Cup in Singapore.

In his first competitive race for almost five years, the Australian, who predicted his comeback would neither be "extraordinary" nor "horrible", qualified for the final of the 100m medley with a time of 56.74 seconds.

The 29-year-old, who finished behind Colombia's Omar Pinzon, retired from the sport in 2006 before announcing in February this year he was making a return in a bid to compete at London 2012.

After the World Cup Thorpe will have three months to further prepare himself for Australia's Olympic trials in March 2012, but for the moment he is simply relieved to have got his first race back out of the way.

"There wasn't a chance I wouldn't be nervous but once I walked out there, I was a little bit better. I didn't vomit or anything like that," he told the Daily Telegraph.

"I can't remember the race at all. I remember starting and touching the wall. So I think there's probably a lot of things I can do better in the final. But I'm happy. I'm really happy to get the first one out of the way. Now I'm able to focus on improving my swimming, rather than getting my first race back."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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