• Swimming

Thorpe pleased despite final woe

ESPN staff
November 4, 2011
Ian Thorpe - pictured in the middle - was left to bemoan his breaststroke © PA Photos
Enlarge

Ian Thorpe said he was "happy" to have made a final so soon in his comeback despite finishing seventh in the 100m individual medley at the FINA World Cup in Singapore.

The five-time Olympic champion, who earlier qualified for the final by finishing second in his first competitive race for almost five years, was in contention before a poor breaststroke leg saw him fall behind and clock a time of 56.33 seconds.

South African Chad Le Clos won in 53.06 but the focus was on Thorpe, who was delighted to mark his return to action with an encouraging showing, even if his breaststroke let him down.

"People want to see me do well and see me do well quickly. I prefer to do that, I prefer not to wait," Thorpe told the BBC. "I haven't swum for a long time. I have to take stock where I was 12 months ago to where I am now. I'm in a final and competing reasonably well. I'm happy.

"Hopefully with a little more time we can have some good performances.

"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. I was doing really well and then the breaststroke happened. It wasn't so bad this morning. It is something I can work on."

The 29-year-old, who quit the sport in 2006 before performing a U-turn in February, will feature in the 100m butterfly on Saturday, with further World Cup meets in Beijing and Tokyo to follow. Australia's Olympic trials for London 2012 are in March.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices