Swimming: Thorpe fares poorly on comeback

BEIJING: Swimming great Ian Thorpe failed to reach the 100m butterfly final at the Beijing World Cup short-course meet as the second stop of his hotly-anticipated comeback came crashing to a halt. The 29-year-old Australian was 13th overall in the heats with 54.35 seconds, 2.22 seconds behind Japanese leader Kosuke Hagino, after also missing the 100m freestyle and 100m individual medley finals. It follows a disappointing return to action for the five-time Olympic champion last weekend in Singapore, when he finished way out of the medals in his first competition in five years. Thorpe will also compete in Tokyo this weekend as he builds towards Australia’s Olympic trials in March.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2011.