London dream remains up in air for former Olympic and world champion, says coach

BEIJING - Returning to the pool after a five-year break, Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe still has a long way to go to qualify for the London Olympic Games next year, the head coach of the team said on Monday.

"It's very hard to tell (whether he will take part in the London Olympics or not) at the minute because he has only had three races and they are not his best events," said Leigh Nugent, head coach of the Australian swimming team.

"He's prepared well and he has laid the foundation for the training that he used to do. He wants to add pace and he will be changing his intensity to a higher level for the next part of his preparations," Nugent told China Daily one day before the FINA Swimming World Cup's Bejing stop.

Thorpe announced his retirement in 2006, but the former multiple Olympic and world champion, whose strongest event is the freestyle, decided to come back in February and is working hard to qualify for the Games.

At his first comeback race at the World Cup stop in Singapore last week, Thorpe finished second-last in the 100m individual medley final and failed to qualify for the 100m butterfly final.

For the Aussie, his form is still not good enough to compete in freestyle races.

"He is in generally good condition, but not specifically for the events that he plans to swim, the 100 and 200 freestyle," Nugent said, stating it's not the right time to compare his current form with that of his peak.

"We are not up to the point of comparing yet," the coach said. "So, I suppose the only time we can begin to compare would be at the national trials, which start on March 15."

Thorpe will focus on the 100m medley and 100m butterfly again at the Beijing stop, which will last for two days, starting on Tuesday.

Besides Thorpe, several other star swimmers will also compete at the "Water Cube", where the swimming events of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were held. They include Thorpe's teammate Lisbeth Trickett, the former women's 100m freestyle world record holder, Japan's breaststroke specialist Tomita Naoya and Sweden's 50m butterfly and freestyle world champion Therese Alshammar.

Leading the local charge will be Olympic butterfly gold medalist Liu Zige and Jiao Liuyang.

The two-day event has attracted more than 200 swimmers from about 20 countries and regions. They will compete for 34 gold medals.

China Daily