March 05th, 2013
Although Ian Thorpe has talked about making comebacks for the both the 2013 World Championships and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, it appears he has not had any communication with Swimming Australia about his future plans. Swimming Australia’s Head Coach Leigh Nugent told The Sunday Telegraph that he had not heard from Thorpe since the fall and that he did not know where he was training and what his plans were, ”I have no idea what he is doing or where he is, whether in Australia or overseas,” Nugent told The Sunday Telegraph via text message. “I have not heard from Ian probably since October.” The article suggests that Thorpe will have $100,000 of funding from Swimming Australia cut, even though Barclay Nettlefold, the President of Swimming Australia, told the publication that Thorpe had not received any money since the Australian Olympic Trials, “Swimming Australia has not provided Ian with any daily training environment support since the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic trials, and certainly no financial support,” said Barclay Nettlefold. Before the Olympic Games Thorpe along with Michael Klim, Libby Trickett and Stephanie Rice all received an undisclosed amount of special funding from Swimming Australia, which did not sit well with many national team athletes. Earlier in the year Thorpe told the BBC that the reason he did not qualify for the Olympics was an insufficient amount of preparation time, but looking towards future competitions that he would have plenty of time to return to peak form. “Now I can do exactly the training that I need to do with time on my side and I can get a preparation that will enable me to swim really well,” said Thorpe. Many assumed at that point he was already in the water preparing for international competition, but that does not appear to be the case with The Sunday Telegraph also reporting that Thorpe is set to rejoin Coach Gennadi Touretski in the next month. With it looking like a certainty that Thorpe will not be at the 2013 World Championships, the question now is will he make a serious comeback attempt at the Commonwealth Games in 2014?
Although Ian Thorpe has talked about making comebacks for the both the 2013 World Championships and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, it appears he has not had any communication with Swimming Australia about his future plans. Swimming Australia’s Head Coach Leigh Nugent told The Sunday Telegraph that he had not heard from Thorpe since the fall and that he did not know where he was training and what his plans were, ”I have no idea what he is doing or where he is, whether in Australia or overseas,” Nugent told The Sunday Telegraph via text message. “I have not heard from Ian probably since October.” The article suggests that Thorpe will have $100,000 of funding from Swimming Australia cut, even though Barclay Nettlefold, the President of Swimming Australia, told the publication that Thorpe had not received any money since the Australian Olympic Trials, “Swimming Australia has not provided Ian with any daily training environment support since the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic trials, and certainly no financial support,” said Barclay Nettlefold. Before the Olympic Games Thorpe along with Michael Klim, Libby Trickett and Stephanie Rice all received an undisclosed amount of special funding from Swimming Australia, which did not sit well with many national team athletes. Earlier in the year Thorpe told the BBC that the reason he did not qualify for the Olympics was an insufficient amount of preparation time, but looking towards future competitions that he would have plenty of time to return to peak form. “Now I can do exactly the training that I need to do with time on my side and I can get a preparation that will enable me to swim really well,” said Thorpe. Many assumed at that point he was already in the water preparing for international competition, but that does not appear to be the case with The Sunday Telegraph also reporting that Thorpe is set to rejoin Coach Gennadi Touretski in the next month. With it looking like a certainty that Thorpe will not be at the 2013 World Championships, the question now is will he make a serious comeback attempt at the Commonwealth Games in 2014?
