Gennadi Touretski not surprised at Ian Thorpe’s physical fitness – Swimming News
Five time Olympics gold medallist, Ian Thorpe’s coach, Gennadi Touretski has expressed that he is not surprised by Thorpe’s weight losing effort.
Touretski said that the motive of training program was not losing weight but to gain the necessary speed that could qualify him for the trials of 2012 London Olympics. He said that Thorpe’s physical fitness has not carried his attention.
Thorpe, who earned gold medals in the 200m and 400m freestyle at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, retired from competitive swimming in 2006. The 28-year-old Thorpe weighed over 110 kilos after his retirement, which he now has dropped down to 98 kilos.
Ian has been under the supervision of his former rival, Alexander Popov’s mentor, Touretski, from past two months, as he intends to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Thorpe’s appearance at the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton got attention of swimming fans but Gennadi is only concerned about his sprint in pool. He says that his only motive is to ensure Ian’s qualification into the Australian team for
London 2012.
"In the time we have had together, there was no idea for Ian to lose weight. The main thing was for him to get an understanding of how he would swim in the future," Touretski said.
"When it comes to his fitness levels, we followed a very simple structure ... of course he lost weight, but Ian is now the same he was at the Olympics in 2000. To me, he looks brilliant ... but I don't want the emphasis on him losing weight but more on what
he is going to do after," Gennadi added.
The Australian swimming champion is restricted by the international sports governing body, FINA to enter competitive swimming before November 2011 whereas Gennadi claims that Thorpe will resume competitive swimming immediately after the ban expires.
Gennadi is very hopeful that Thorpe will make a splash as soon as he enters competitive swimming. In addition, the Russian Coach professes that the Australian is right on track and is doing very well.
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