Ian Thorpe back training, comeback possible

BRISBANE, Australia — Ian Thorpe is back
training in the pool and hasn't ruled out a return to competition in
time for the London 2012 Olympics.

Dave Flaskas, manager for the 28-year-old five-time Olympic gold
medalist, told The Associated Press on Sunday that while "it's a long
way from here to London," Thorpe is enjoying swimming again and "never
say never."

Flaskas said in order to be eligible for the London Games, Thorpe would
have to begin drug-testing in the next six to eight weeks to make him
eligible a year out from the Australian trials next February or March.

Thorpe retired in 2006 after setting 13 world records and winning 11 world championship golds.

He won the 200- and 400-meter freestyle in the 2004 Athens Olympics in his last major international meet.

Flaskas said "2011 is already wiped out" as far as competitive swimming was concerned because of the lack of drug testing.

"At the moment, he is just enjoying training, and we'll see where it
goes," Flaskas said. "He's working out on his own, his shoulder problems
(a broken shoulder blade) seem to be gone, but he's still a long way
from competitive training."

Thorpe told Sydney's Sunday Telegraph, which sighted him training at
Sydney's Caringbah Leisure Center pool on Saturday, that "I never really
stopped swimming, I'm just doing more of it now, and I'm really
enjoying getting into shape."

Flaskas said Thorpe was "delighted" with 30-year-old Geoff Huegill's
gold-medal comeback at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games but that was not
his inspiration for a return to training.

"Ian knows what it requires, and he's over the moon for Geoff, they are
good mates," Flaskas said. "But Ian knows he still has to do the work."

Flaskas said Thorpe had no plans to do any training outside Sydney and
was training alone. His former coach, Tracey Menzies, was now with the
Australian Institute of Sport.

Flaskas said Thorpe's primary reason for training was to stay fit for
all the world travel he does as a young ambassador for the World
Economic Forum and his business commitments.

"He does a lot of travel to Japan, he just came back from the UAE, he
gave a speech in Chicago," Flaskas said. "His life now goes beyond
sport. Fitness is really important when you spend a lot of time at
35,000 feet."

Last May, Thorpe issued a statement saying he was not planning a return
to swimming after a Brisbane newspaper said he was seeking to earn a
place on an Australia 400 freestyle relay team for London.

Thorpe was the world's highest-profile swimmer until Michael Phelps came
onto the scene, and had a list of lucrative endorsement deals. But
Thorpe admitted last year that he'd had financial problems after his
personal savings were affected by the global economic crisis.

He said he'd experienced cash-flow problems after shedding sponsorship
deals to focus on his university studies in linguistics and psychology,
but had restructured his finances.

Thorpe burst onto the international stage as a teenager in 1999 and won
three gold medals — all in world record times — and two silver medals at
the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
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