Possibly the greatest swimmer ever, Ian Thorpe stepped off the block on November 21, after 22 world records, 11 world titles, 10 Commonwealth gold medals and 9 Olympic medals, five of which were gold. Thorpe is hanging up his goggles, at the tender age of 24. He has decided that he has given all he could give to the sport. Before Thorpe, there was indifference; swimming did not inspire the excitement of the hundred metres final. From the age of fifteen, this ‘human fish’ revolutionized swimming, dominating the sport completely. With size seventeen feet and a slender build, he seemed to break records almost at will. So why would such a man retire so soon?

Undoubtedly there will be speculation, but Thorpe insists that he has lost his motivation. It takes great courage to stand up in front of a group of people, let alone the entire world, and say that you have had enough. For having done this, we must respect Thorpe. Whether this decision had come now or when he was 30, the facts are the same.

Ian Thorpe has been swimming competitively for a decade. He lost the best years of his life because he was more interested in breaking world records set by the great Mark Spitz, than in sitting exams and going to university. By retiring at 24, Thorpe has given himself enough time to do other things that he may have wanted to do when he was younger. To put it simply, Thorpe is burnt out, he has swum so many laps that he feels exhausted.

New kids in the pool

Three years ago, he changed coach to try and get back his hunger, but it didn’t work. Thorpe’s original motivation, was simply to win a medal in every event, starting with the 400m and working down. Now that he has done that, he clearly cannot be bothered with the sport anymore.

Of course there could be reasons under the surface that have not been mentioned, and on this there can be endless speculation. With the emergence of Michael Phelps in the last Olympics, Thorpe had a contender to his crown. Thorpe battled through ‘the race of the century’ against Pieter van den Hoogenband and Phelps to come out on top, but the question must have arisen in his mind: can I do that again?

Thorpe said to the people of Australia when he came to prominence, that he was there to break records and win gold medals. Yet with Phelps now a rising star in the sport, Thorpe may feel that if he isn’t going to be on top, then he will be failing the Australian people. So will swimming recover from the loss of its golden boy?

End of an era

The emergence of Phelps means that swimming is secure for the near future. However, since he is only 21, it is perfectly possible that in five years, Phelps too will, like Thorpe, feel that he has had enough. The swimming community will pray that this does not happen, but if it does, then it is necessary to find new stars, and nurture the sport in schools. As someone who goes to a school that does not have a swimming team, yet has several talented swimmers, I cannot see a lot of aid going into swimming. There are very few schools that have swimming teams. The sport is not necessarily in danger of dying but is less likely to produce new stars.

No matter what anybody says, it is widely regarded that Ian Thorpe revolutionized swimming. Never before had a man of his physique and capabilities been seen in the swimming world. His exploits gave swimming a new lease of life, and made it popular and ‘cool’. For these reasons, we must respect his wishes to retire and try something new. We must also bear in mind the reason he retired, and seek to address the problem, so that none of the new superstars face it in the future.