Ian Thorpe qualifies into the Men’s 200m freestyle semi-final: 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships

Ian Thorpe qualifies into the Men’s 200m freestyle semi-final: 2012
EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships

Australian swimming great, Ian Thorpe showed to the Aquatic world some glimpses of his gruelling form as he qualified into the Men’s 200m freestyle semi-final as the fifth fastest swimmer on day two of the 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships.

The Championship is taking place at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide and acts as the Australian Selection Trials for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The 29-year-old Thorpe, who made a comeback to competitive swimming in February 2011 after five years of retirement, has ended almost all questions related to his incompetency to place his name in the Australian squad to the 2012 London Olympics.

The Australian comeback king is undoubtedly the greatest Australian swimmer, who has clinched five Olympic gold medals. Thorpe had dominated his way until the fourth lap, where Ryan Napoleon emerged as his strongest competitor and gained a lead of almost
one second, finishing first in the event with the timing of 1 minute and 48.27 seconds.

On the other hand, Thorpe, who was the centre of attention of everyone, ended in a joint second with David McKeon in his heat. Thorpe and McKeon tapped the finishing wall with an identical effort of 1 minute and 49.16 seconds, securing second in his heat
and fifth overall.

Thorpe won gold medal of the 200m freestyle at the 2004 Athens Olympics, a swim called race of the century. Thorpe devastated hopes of Michael Phelps, Pieter van den Hoogenband and Grant Hackett by clinching gold medal of the discipline.

After a prolonged series of criticism on his ability to qualify, Thorpe has surprised the non-believers of his road to London. With his epic performance in the four-lap event, Thorpe is just two steps away from accomplishing his London qualification dream.

He just needs to sustain his position in the subsequent rounds, as the top six finishers will ensure their place in the Australian squad to London. Nevertheless, many believed that the 29-year-old Australian has saved some of his talent for the latter rounds
and his opponents would have to perform extraordinarily in order to overcome his efforts in the semi-final.

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Posted by Mursil Mehmood Butt on Mar 16 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