Ian Thorpe
Ian James Thorpe (born October 13, 1982), also known as the Thorpedo, is an Australian swimmer who, after winning the 200 and 400 metre freestyle races at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, became known as one of the greatest middle-distance swimmers of all time. He has won five Olympic gold medals, more than any other Australian.
Career
Thorpe was born in Milperra, in the south-western suburbs of Sydney, and was educated at East Hills Boys High School (other famous alumni include Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh). Although Thorpe's father, Ken, excelled as a cricketer, Ian did not have the same ability. Instead, he followed his sister, Christina, into competitive swimming. Thorpe made his first impact in 1997, when he was selected at 14 for the Australian team at the Pan Pacific competition in Fukuoka, Japan, becoming the youngest male to represent Australia in swimming. He came second to another Australian teenager, Grant Hackett, in the 400 metre freestyle, beginning a rivalry which has continued ever since. He also excelled in the 200 metre metre butterfly at junior level, setting Australian Age records in the event, but has not competed in the event at international level.
Since 1998 Thorpe has completely dominated the 400 metre freestyle event, winning the event at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, the 2001 and 2003 Fukuoka and Barcelona World Championships (he won a total of six gold medals at the former), at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002, the Pan Pacific Championships in 1999 and 2002 and again in Athens. His dominance has broadened to include the 200 and 400 metre freestyle (at which he holds the world record), and he is one of the fastest 100 metre freestylers in the world. He has been nicknamed "Thorpedo" by the Australian press for his swimming prowess.
Thorpe has also pushed Australian relay teams to unprecedented success, anchoring the winning 4x100 and leading off the 4x200 freestyle relay teams in Sydney, the first time the United States had ever been beaten in the former event. In total, he has broken world records (either individually or as part of a relay team) 22 times.
Thorpe's success is based on a strong work ethic, attention to detail, flawless technique, mental strength, and a physiology suited to swimming. At 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) and 105 kg (231 lb), he is very large for a swimmer and many thought that as he matured and continued to grow he would be unable to maintain his performance as a teenager. He has however, been able to maintain a trademark six-beat kick to power away to victory in the closing stages of races, attributed to his unnaturally large feet.
| Men's Swimming | ||
| Gold medal |
2000 Sydney |
Swimming Men's 400m freestyle |
| Gold medal |
2000 Sydney |
Swimming Men's 4x100m freestyle relay |
| Gold medal |
2000 Sydney |
Swimming Men's 4x200m freestyle relay |
| Gold medal |
2004 Athens |
Swimming Men's 200m freestyle |
| Gold medal |
2004 Athens |
Swimming Men's 400m freestyle |
| Silver medal |
2000 Sydney |
Swimming Men's 200m freestyle |
| Silver medal |
2000 Sydney |
Swimming Men's 4x100m medley relay |
| Silver medal |
2004 Athens |
Swimming Men's 4x200m freestyle relay |
| Bronze medal |
2004 Athens |
Swimming Men's 100m freestyle |
Chronological Account
In 1998, he etched his name into the Australian consciousness when he won the 400m freestyle at the World Championships in Perth, out-touching Hackett, and thus becoming the youngest male to become world-champion in a swimming event. He later combined with Hackett, Michael Klim, and Daniel Kowalski to win the 4x200m freestyle relay, starting a six-year winning streak for Australia in this event. He went on to the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, winning both the 200m and 400m freestyle, in the former, defeating Klim, the world champion in the event. He also claimed gold in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays, breaking the world record in the latter along with Klim, Kowalski and Matt Dunn.
In 1999, at the Pan-Pacific Championships in Sydney, he broke his first world records, setting a time of 3.41.83 in the 400m to break Kieren Perkins' mark by almost two seconds, which was hitherto regarded as one of the most impressive records of its time. He also twice lowered the 200m freestyle world record at the same meet. He helped Australia to record its first ever victory in the 4x100m freestyle relay over the United States, and also helped lower the 4x200m freestyle relay world record, with Klim, Hackett and Bill Kirby. This was surrounded by controversy, as some cynics pointed to his fullbody swimsuit, which was the first of its kind to be used.
Thorpe's campaign at the 2000 Sydney Olympics was for his standards, somewhat mixed. At the selection trials in May, he had again lowered his world records in both the 200m and 400m, and was regarded as being unstoppable. He duly broke the 400m world record again en route to the gold medal in the event. He later lined up alongside Klim, Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus to anchor the 4x100m freestyle relay, an event in which the Americans had never been beaten. After Klim had broken the individual world record, Fydler and Callus clung onto the arm-length lead, with Thorpe ready to dual with Gary Hall Jr., the silver medallist from the previous Olympics. Thorpe timed his dive much better than Hall, and surfaced a body length ahead. Hall then overtook Thorpe, but Thorpe fought back in the last 40m with his late-finishing style to deliver victory, just 0.17s ahead of the Americans, breaking the world record and claiming the gold medal. It sparked wild celebrations amongst the partisan crowd, and evoked an uncharacteristic celebration from Thorpe. Whereas he would usually stare calmly at the scoreboard and slowly pump his fists, Thorpe immediately jumped out of the pool, screaming and hugging his ecstatic teammates. He even played "air guitar" to mock Hall's pre-race claim to smash the Australians like guitars. Perhaps feeling emotionally drained, Thorpe was appeared to be rattled when Pieter van den Hoogenband, broke his 200m freestyle world record in the semifinal. In the final, Hoogenband, a 100m specialist, attacked early, and Thorpe responded, abandoning his usual strategy of late-finishing. However, this drained Thorpe, and he was unable to unleash his finishing burst and he was defeated. Perhaps wanting to reclaim his record, Thorpe led off the 4x200m relay the following night, but failed. Nevertheless, along with Kirby, Klim and Todd Pearson, the Australians again claimed gold, lowering the world record once again.
In 2001, Thorpe showed an intent to recapture his 200m world record and improve as a swimmer were shown when he broke the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle world records at the Australian Championships in Hobart. He proceeded to again win all three events at the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, this time unperturbed by van den Hoogenband's fast-starting style. He also combined with Hackett, Klim and Kirby to cut more than 2 seconds off the 4x200m freestyle relay world record, and also anchored the 4x100m freestyle and medley relays to gold. In the medley relay he set the fastest ever 100m split, but he was unable to reproduce this in the 100m final, finishing fourth.
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games Thorpe again broke his 400m world record again, as well as winning the 200m and 100m events, and all three relays. However, he appeared unusually angry after the 200m event, expressing disappointment at not breaking his own world record. He also claimed a silver medal in the 100m backstroke, with which he was experimenting at the time. Although he repeated the winning dose immediately after (except the 4x100m medley) at Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, he controversially split with his lifelong coach, Doug Frost to train with Tracy Menzies, one of Frost's assistants.
At the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, his first competition under Menzies, Thorpe again won the 200m, 400m and 4x200m freestyle events, however all were at a lower pace than when he split with Frost. He also collected a bronze in the 100m, his first medal at world level in the event. In another experiment, he collected a silver in the 200m Individual Medley.
Thorpe's preparations for the Athens Olympics were clouded by controversy. In late March 2004 Thorpe competed in the qualification events at the Australian Championships. He was disqualified from the 400 m freestyle after making a false start, when he lost balance and tumbled into the water. Australia's Olympic selection rules allow for a qualifier to stand down, and for another swimmer to be selected in their place. After some deliberation, the second qualifier, Craig Stevens, withdrew from the event, and Thorpe accepted the offered place.
At the Athens Olympics, there was immense pressure on Thorpe to win the 400m freestyle following Stevens' deferral. Thorpe swam somewhat unconvincingly, with several changes of pace, but managed to hang on and touch out Hackett. Thorpe appeared to shed tears, another uncharacteristic sign of emotion, but he later denied that any liquid had left his eyes. His victory in the 200 metres at Athens pitted him against American swimmer Michael Phelps, Sydney gold medallist Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands and his fellow Australian Grant Hackett. The race attracted unprecedented media attention in Australia as The race of the century, and Thorpe's victory made him one of the most celebrated Australian athletes of all time. He added a silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and a bronze in the 100m freestyle.
After the Athens Olympics, Thorpe took 17 months off from competitive swimming, skipping the 2005 World Championships.
Thorpe qualified for the 2006 Commonwealth Games by winning the final of the 200m freestyle on 31 January 2006 as well as winning the final of the 100m freestyle on 2 February 2006. Thorpe has somewhat controversially let go of his pet event, the 400m freestyle with a view of concentrating on the 100m freestyle.
Out of the Water
Away from the pool, Thorpe in many ways defies the stereotype of Australian sportspeople. He is quiet, mild-mannered, thoughtful, articulate, but extremely guarded in his statements, and he reportedly makes considerable efforts to insulate himself from the media when preparing for and during important events. His lack of interest in (and aptitude for) other sports is well-known. Instead, his other enthusiasm appears to be fashion, as an ambassador for Armani clothing and his own range of designer jewellery. He was a presenter at the 2005 TVWeek Logies, and one of the backers of new A-league team Sydney FC.
Thorpe's performances in Sydney and Athens have made him a national hero in Australia, a country which reveres sporting stars. He has recently bought a $2.9 million house in Caringbah, a southern suburb of Sydney.
Due to his popularity in Japan, where he was mobbed at the airport upon arriving for competition in 2001 and 2002, he agreed to be a tourism ambassador for Australia.
Personal bests
His personals bests are:
- 100m freestyle: 48.56
- 200m freestyle: 1:44.06 (World Record, July 2001, Fukuoka)
- 400m freestyle: 3:40.08 (World Record, July 2002, Manchester)
- 800m freestyle: 7.39.44 (World Record, July 2001, Fukuoka, since broken July 2005 by Grant Hackett)
- 200 IM: 1.59.66
Titles
Some of Ian Thorpe's titles:
Olympic Champion
- 2000, Sydney: 400m freestyle
- 2000, Sydney: 4 x 100m freestyle relay
- 2000, Sydney: 4 x 200m freestyle relay
- 2004, Athens: 400m freestyle
- 2004, Athens: 200m freestyle
World Champion, Long Course
- 1998, Perth: 400m freestyle
- 1998, Perth: 4 x 200m freestyle relay
- 2001, Fukuoka: 200m freestyle
- 2001, Fukuoka: 400m freestyle
- 2001, Fukuoka: 800m freestyle
- 2001, Fukuoka: 4 x 100m freestyle relay
- 2001, Fukuoka: 4 x 100m medley relay
- 2001, Fukuoka: 4 x 200m freestyle relay
- 2003, Barcelona: 400m freestyle
- 2003, Barcelona: 200m freestyle
- 2003, Barcelona: 4 x 200m freestyle relay
World Champion, Short Course
- 1999, Hong Kong: 200m freestyle
- 1999, Hong Kong: 4 x 100m freestyle relay
Awards
- Male World Swimmer of the Year 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002; Swimming World magazine
- Australian Swimmer of the Year 1998-2003