Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe was on track to make a return to competitive swimming in November, his coach said on Thursday.Australia’s most decorated Olympian last February announced his return to swimming for next year’s London Olympics and has spent the past two months working with coach Gennadi Touretski in Switzerland.
Thorpe, 28, was a guest at last week’s Royal wedding in London looking trim and taut after slimming down to under 100kg (220 pounds) for the first time since announcing his comeback.
Under FINA rules Thorpe is not eligible to compete until November, but Touretski said he was confident Thorpe would be ready to begin competition immediately, as he builds towards Australia’s Olympic trials in March.
“I think in November he will come back to racing activity,” Touretski told Australian Associated Press from Switzerland.
“I believe we will start with the World Cup race in Singapore (November 4).”
Touretski, 61, who has coached swimmers to more than 40 world records throughout his career, said Thorpe was making good progress.
“He is in a good stage because his approach is positive,” the former Australian Institute of Sport mentor said.
“He is also very creative. I never communicated with him very close (in the past) but I realise how bright he is.”
The Russian said it was too early to tell whether Thorpe would be more suited to the 100m or 200m freestyle in his comeback, but said he could use his age to his advantage in the shorter events.
“He must do different things with his technical preparation and this of course depends on his physical ability,” Touretski said.
“But at his age… he is stronger now than before and that is encouraging for the future.
“When it comes to his fitness levels, we followed a very simple structure. Of course, he has lost weight, but Ian is now the same he was at the (Sydney) Olympics in 2000.
“To me, he looks brilliant, but I don’t want the emphasis on him losing weight but more on what he is going to do after.”
Thorpe won 11 world titles and set 13 long-course records before announcing his retirement from swimming in November 2006 after 10 years in the Australian team, saying he had lost the desire to compete.
