After the sad realisation that his swimming career will have
to stop due to injury, Ian Thorpe will be coming back to Sydney.
A shoulder injury that he managed to overcome for his past
Olympic wins has finally got the better of his extraordinary abilities.
Thorpe said of the injury: “I kept on not being able to get
through them [his training sessions int he pool], and then I decided [to say to
myself] I am just going to push through it; basically, I have moved the
positioning of my scapula [and] that's caused a tremendous amount of tension on
the front of my shoulder.”
The reality of his situation was difficult for him to process.
The swimmer said, “I went to the physio thinking, “Oh it can't be that bad”, to
then finding out it [was] actually quite serious.”
The injury has left him unable to compete professionally,
and his hopes of taking part in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio have been dashed. The decision to stop his competitive swimming was hard, but
he did it for his health. He told The Telegraph: “I don’t want to be the old
man who can’t do things – to push out something that may not be realistic any
more.” It is for this reason that he has decided not to have
corrective surgery. His last surgical procedure took two years to fully heal,
and with no guarantee that it would work effectively this time, he has stood
down as an Olympic swimmer.
The Macquarie alum and five time Olympic champion still
plans to swim, but he is realistic about his injury: “Although I am going to
continue swimming, realistically I don’t think I will be able to get back to a
position where I am at the top of the sport.”
He trains with his coach, Gennadi Touretski, in Tenero
Switzerland, but will come back to Sydney within the next two of three years.
“I don't like it,” the Australian swimmer said ruefully of
his retirement. “Well, what can you do? I am a little philosophical about it.
One I am glad I have rediscovered my passion for something I loved doing as a
kid - I ended up hating what I was doing - but now I am enjoying it again.”
