Submitted by admin on Wed, 2006-11-22 08:00. ::
He began the day with an early-morning surf at Cronulla. Showered. Didn't shave. Popped on a crisp white shirt with plenty of give for that beautiful bod. Drove into town. And then announced his retirement from competitive swimming.
It was his last opportunity to change his mind - but he didn't. It had been set on the weekend while he was hanging around with friends at home.
"As of 2.53 on Sunday afternoon I decided I wouldn't swim in the World Championships ... I also made another difficult decision that day: I am actually going to discontinue my professional swimming career," he told a packed press conference at the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney.
The language was awkward but he wasn't. For 14 years, he has done laps and training, and training and laps almost every day of his life. He is the most successful Olympian ever with five gold medals and nine assorted silver and bronze. On top of that there were 11 world titles, 13 world records, 10 Commonwealth gold medals, nine Pan Pacific titles and 18 national titles.
Now Ian Thorpe is free at last and asking us to imagine his life. "Lap after lap, staring at the black line and all of a sudden, look up and see what's around."
Thorpe says that despite reports, there was no struggle with his fitness. He was training in Los Angeles with Milton Nelms, a coach famed for his ability to remotivate the damned. So the Thorpe physique was perfect, as fit as it had ever been.
"I want to make sure if there's any athletes who are considering walking away from their sport, I want them to be in contact with me so I can put them in touch with this person."
The gloom Australians might be feeling about the lack of depth in the Australian men's swimming team was not of much concern to Thorpe. He'll be at Beijing cheering them on and plans to stay involved in swimming. The former dux of East Hills Boys' High might make current swimming administrators a little nervous.
There will be time for surfing; and a little boxing. He also has a project with Foxtel that will require him to "put clothes on" which may be a reference to fashion, which he is known to love.
Thorpe is also realistic about his commercial prospects. While his sponsors have been very supportive - and some even came to the press conference - he recognises that now he is in swimming retirement there may be some changes to his lifestyle.
From Vietnam, Prime Minister John Howard described Thorpe as a remarkable athlete and a good bloke. "His retirement is an enormous loss to Australian swimming but it's tough, he started early, all swimmers do," he said. "Millions of Australians will remember his wonderful individual performances."
The acting Prime Minister Mark Vaile said, "Ian has been an inspiration to hundreds of thousands of Australians, particularly children, and I know that all Australians will join me in wishing him the very best for his life out of the water."
The Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley, put out a joint statement with shadow minister for sport and recreation Kate Lundy, wishing Thorpe the best in his retirement and thanking him for his contribution.
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