Ian Thorpe: The Swimmer Page #6

Like, backing up

after a morning swim.

Yeah.

To me, I'm more concerned about the

semifinal than the final.

I don't actually know until

I stand up now.

Um, I don't know if I'll be OK

or if I'll just have a meltdown.

Take your mark.

OK,

Ian Thorpe's away pretty well.

He's, uh, about equal leader.

Come on!

Go!

If anything now,

Thorpe has hit the front.

His stroke looks amazing.

Very smooth, isn't it?

It really looks smooth.

It looks efficient.

He's sitting high in the water.

Not panicking at the moment.

Ian's starting to drop back

a little bit. Third turn.

So D'orsogna turns first

and Thorpe has dropped back

and dropped back quite badly.

Ian Thorpe is about

fifth or sixth position.

He's in big trouble.

He is.

He is in really big trouble,

the Thorpedo.

Napoleon, first. Monk, second -

a big swim from him.

And Ian Thorpe,

what is his time, Nicole?

1.49.91. So the same

as he went this morning.

He's finished in sixth place,

so he will not make the final.

Wow.

Well, the harsh reality

is Ian Thorpe's Olympic dream

could be over right here,

right now.

He still has the 100 metres,

but that's gonna be even harder.

The more time I've had to digest,

you know,

the more disappointed I am.

Um...

Where to now for Ian Thorpe?

I have... I have the 100m now,

and I have to get myself back up.

I think to see him like that

and knowing

what he's been through

and how much he's...

he's put himself out there,

it's really... it's really...

It's hard to see, but I'm...

..I guess, like his mum said,

I'm really proud.

Get his signature.

The fairytale

didn't go to script,

but to his fans,

Thorpedo was still a hero.

Kids, what do you think

of this guy?

- Awesome.

- Pretty cool.

He's awesome.

It is what it is.

Actually, I felt worse, um...

I felt worse two days ago,

but I don't think it's...

..I don't think it's hit me yet.

So you're not

going to the Olympics.

Yeah.

Thanks for the reminder.

Sorry.

It's alright.

I know, it's kind of... It's...

It's kind of... It's tough

to kind of comprehend.

Um, I kind of worked so hard for the

last kind of 18 months,

um, to do this.

Um...

I kind of...

I haven't really thought what...

..what to do now, what to do next.

I didn't prepare for this,

I didn't plan for this.

Um, so...

Yeah, I have to work out

what to... what to do next,

what's gonna motivate me next.

And, yeah, it's kind of...

it's kind of strange, um...

..'cause, you know,

I had the desire to do this,

I wanted to do this

and I've trained to do this,

and, you know, it hasn't

kind of rolled my way this time.

Um...

So, yeah, I kind of...

Yeah, I kind of have to work out what

the next chapter will be.

Looks like your mum's dog.

It was always gonna be

a struggle with time,

um, and I'd be happy to keep swimming

just to get to that time

and then I'm happy to walk away.

How are you feeling

coming off the back of

the Australian trials?

Oh, I'm good now.

Yeah?

Like, I'm kind of spending time with

friends and family

and being able to chill out

and start training again.

So I think this is probably the worst

I've ever swum in my career,

but for some reason,

I'm enjoying swimming again,

and I'm cool with that.

Do you think

you're still finding yourself,

working out who you are?

Yeah. I hope so.

I hope so, 'cause I think if

you've worked out who you are,

you may as well be dead.

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