Ian Thorpe fails to quality for 100m freestyle finals

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Ian Thorpe fails to quality for 100m freestyle finals

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Five-times Olympic champion Ian Thorpe fails to qualify for the 100m freestyle finals in Beijing.

08 November,2011 09:55 pm

Five-times Olympic champion Ian Thorpe failed to quality for the 100m freestyle finals in the Beijing leg of the Swimming World Cup on Tuesday (November 8).In the event that once earned him a bronze Olympic medal in Athens seven years ago, the mid-distance freestylist finished the heat at 50.21 seconds, putting him 15th among 24 swimmers.Tuesdays race was the first international 100m freestyle competition that Thorpe swam since he emerged from a five-year hiatus.But Thorpedos famous size 17 feet failed to kick in a few more milliseconds for the swimmer.It was okay. If literally if I went, you know, I think twenty-two of a hundredth faster I would be really happy with it. Theres kind of a psychological barrier around 50 (seconds), Thorpe said.The 29-year-old Australian also dived into the 100m Individual Medley race but was one spot away from joining the eight-person finals.Thorpe, who has 11 world titles and 13 world records under his bag, said the series of races was meant to help ease him back into competitive swimming.You know, its almost absurd to think that, you know, you can return to a pool after not swimming a lap for five years and expect to be winning things. You know, it wasnt my intention. And these competitions, these series of competitions for me, is kind of a first stepping stone of making it back to this competitive mode, you know, relearning what its like to be match-fit, ready to race. So, so far Ive been pretty happy, Thorpe said.The competitions had been learning experiences, Thorpe said, adding that his eyes were still set on the 2012 London Olympics.I realized what I have to work on is not things in training, its things about racing. And its becoming I guess more prepared for racing and, you know, making myself being familiar with this again. You know, thats gonna be a challenge, its getting used to this and knowing what it feels like, and you can only get that from racing, Thorpe said.Thorpes teammate Robert Hurley, who qualified for the 100m freestyles at a time of 49.60 seconds, said Thorpes presence motivated the Australian team.Its just uplifting to have him there, knowing that youve got one of the greatest swimmers in the world on your team and cheering you on on the side. Very uplifting for me, and Im sure for the younger members of the team as well, Hurley said.Organizers said Thorpe will compete in other heats on Wednesday (November 9) in Beijings Water Cube but could not confirm the name of the event.