Asia-Pacific News

Thorpe says failure most likely outcome in his Singapore comeback

Nov 3, 2011, 7:08 GMT

Singapore - Australian swimming star Ian Thorpe on Thursday admitted he was nervous going into his first competitive race in five years this weekend in Singapore and failure was the most likely outcome.

The 29-year-old, nicknamed Thorpedo, retired in 2006 after winning five Olympic gold medals and 11 world titles. But in February he announced his return to the pool to prepare for next year's London Olympics.

'I'm going with nerves. I'm more nervous than I usually am,' said Thorpe ahead of the Singapore short-course World Cup where he is set to race the 100m individual medley and 100m butterfly on Friday and Saturday.

'I have neither a time nor a place (as a goal),' he said.

'There's an area that I'll fall into where it's not going to be extraordinary and not going to be horrible,' said the Australian. 'It's something in the middle.'

He added, 'It's good to realize where my limitations are at the moment.'

Australia's most successful Olympic swimmer said failure was 'the most likely outcome' in his comeback.

'I came to terms with failure when I started this.'

However, preparations for the London Games were on track, he said, adding that there were days when he felt like 'the best swimmer in the world.'

'Some things are going better than I thought they would be, other things aren't,' Thorpe said.

For the Singapore event, Thorpe chose not to compete in his pet freestyle events.

'It's not race-ready yet, (but) I'll be able to do some freestyle pretty soon,' he said.

Thorpe also plans to compete at the World Cup in Beijing next week and in Tokyo a few days later.

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