Grant Hackett insists don’t forget Ian Thorpe

Grant Hackett insists don’t forget Ian Thorpe

The seven-time Olympic medallist, Grant Hackett insisted on February 27 that undermining the ability of Australian comeback king, Ian Thorpe to qualify for the 100m freestyle at the upcoming Australian Selection Trials would be a foolishness.

The 31-year-old Hackett, who knows Thorpe better than anyone, has stated that it would not be wise to forget Thorpe as a potential candidate for the upcoming Australian Trials for the 2012 London Olympic Games, this March in Adelaide.

The 29-year-old Thorpe, who won five Olympic gold medals in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, announced his retirement from competitive swimming in 2006. With the decision of his announcement, he told that he had accomplished all he wanted to achieve.

Nevertheless, the 29-year-old Thorpe made a comeback to competitive swimming in February 2011, expressing that he would put all his efforts to reserve his spot in the 4*100m freestyle relay Australian team to the London Games.

The Australian has participated in a lot of competition since the 9-months ban imposed by Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA) has lifted up last November, but he has failed to post a stunning time in the 100m event.

No doubt, Thorpe has shown consistent improvements in his speed but he has still much to go for and the Australian trials are less than three weeks away. Thorpe is almost two seconds slower from the FINA A-Time Qualification Standard of 48.82 seconds.

Previously, Hackett advised Thorpe to shift his focus to the 200m freestyle event, as he thinks that it would be easier for him to earn his way into the Australian team to London.

On the other hand, he has now expressed that it would be imprudent, if his challengers believe that Thorpe will not be able to bring challenge to them.

The Australian trials for the London Games will start on March 15 and will end on March 22. Apart from Hackett, many believed that Thorpe has a good chance of qualifying in the 4*200m freestyle relay rather than the 4*100m freestyle, but the Australian has
released no statement regarding any change in his plan and has stick to his goal of proving his mettle in the 100m freestyle event.

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Posted by Mursil Mehmood Butt on Feb 28 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry