Ian Thorpe and Libby Trickett qualify for tonight’s finals
Five time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe has qualified for tonight’s 100-metre individual medley final at the FINA World Cup being held in Singapore.
Appearing slightly nervous at the start, the Aussie swimmer showed glimpses of his former glory in the first 25-metres swimming butterfly on Friday morning and came in second in his heat, clocking in at 56.74 secs, losing out to Columbian Omar Pinzon who came in first at 55.81 secs.
But the result was not only enough for Thorpe to qualify for tonight’s finals but also highly significant as this is his first competitive race in almost six years and is a promising start for the “Thorpedo” and his quest for Olympic glory in London next year.
Looking relieved after his successful return to competition, the 29-year-old told reporters that he was glad to get the first race out of the way and that he was nervous about ten minutes before the race.
“ I wasn’t vomiting or anything like that. You know, I can’t remember the race at all, except for starting and touching the wall. There’re probably a lot of things I can do better tonight,” said Thorpe while beaming with laughter.
He added that now he can finally focus on improving his speed instead of concentrating on his first comeback race.
“I’ve got something to work on now. I looked at the time, 56.74 secs, is it fast or is it slow? I have no idea. But I have something to work on now, something to improve on now.”
The last time Thorpe competed internationally was at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.
He will be hoping for a medal in the finals to cement his position as the comeback kid before he flies off to China and Japan for World Cup events after Singapore.
Meawhile, fellow country woman Libby Trickett also qualified for the finals for the 100-metre butterfly event. Just like the Thorpe, she’s also making an international comeback to the swimming arena. She also qualified for the 50-metre freestyle final.
She said she was a bit nervous before the race but added that she’s enjoying herself and finding her return to the sport exciting.
“The more races I get, the better. It feels good to race. It’s just a matter of getting fitter and that’s what is going to make me faster,” said Trickett.
