Legendary Olympian, Ian Thorpe: An overview of his comeback performances – Part 5
After a series of competitions and couple of races, Ian Thorpe was in high spirits as he gained much confidence after his efforts at the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) World Cup Series and the Long Course Italian Winter Championships.
After a slight improvement in timings at the Italian meet, where Thorpe posted a 50.84 seconds effort in the 100m freestyle and produced a time of 1 minute and 51.51 seconds in the 200m freestyle, he now headed to contest in the same disciplines at the 2012 Victorian Long Course Championships.
The 29-year-old Thorpe was scheduled to compete in the 100m freestyle preliminary round on the opening day of the championship. He failed to materialise in the 100m freestyle playoff as he clocked a time of 51.05 seconds. His effort was 0.21 seconds slower than his performance at the Italian meet, but he ended thirteenth overall.
Thorpe’s struggle was 2.29 seconds behind Matthew Targett, who holds the championship mark of the event and qualified into the final round as the top finest swimmer by reporting a time of 48.86 seconds.
He was just 0.33 seconds behind the last qualifying swimmer, Andrew Lauterstein, who hit the wall with timing of 50.72 seconds and ensured tenth place to reach the final.
Subsequently, Thorpe was planned to serve notice of his talent in the 200m freestyle on second day of the championship. The comeback king displayed his astonishing efforts in the four-lap freestyle discipline and ended fourth by touching the wall in 1 minute and 51.08 seconds.
His effort remained 1.17 seconds away from the fastest qualifying swimmer, Nicholas Ffrost, who surfaced on the finishing end with an effort of 1 minute and 49.91 seconds. The second best qualification spot of the race was secured by Jarrod Killey, who concluded his swim in 1 minute and 50.29 seconds.
Cameron McEvoy seized third fastest qualification spot as he outperformed Thorpe with a difference of 0.37 seconds and submitted a time of 1 minute and 50.71 seconds.
Consequently, Thorpe participated in the 200m playoff, where he elevated his efforts in a bid to dictate terms to his competitors, but failed to do so. He improved his qualification time by almost 0.30 seconds but finished fifth in the final.
He transpired on the finishing end with a 1 minute and 50.79 seconds effort. His time was 2.49 seconds behind the gold medallist, Killey, who posted 1 minute and 48.28 seconds. The second and third spot of the race was secured by Ffrost and McEvoy, who touched the finishing end with timings of 1:49.20 and 1:49.25 minutes, respectively.
Surprisingly, Thorpe remained just 0.02 seconds slower than Justin James, who ended fourth with an effort of 1 minute and 50.77 seconds.
After that, the Australian took part in the 14th Luxembourg Euro-Meet 2012, where he posted his fastest comeback time in the 100m freestyle. Thorpe completed his 100m swim in 50.76 seconds and once again succeeded in arousing expectations of his fans.
Furthermore, the 29-year-old is now left with just one and a half month as the Australian Selection Trials for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics are scheduled in March. In addition, on February 1, 2012, the two-time Olympic gold medallist Kieren Perkins recommended Thorpe to travel less, stressing that this would help him in his London qualifiers.
To be continued in Part 6.
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