The stars of the Australian men’s swimming team - Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe – are busy getting their Beijing Olympic preparations back on track...
The stars of the Australian men’s swimming team - Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe – are busy getting their Beijing Olympic preparations back on track.
Both athletes, who missed the Melbourne Commonwealth Games with injury and illness, are keen to make up for lost time.
Olympic and world 1500-metre freestyle champion Grant Hackett will return to competitive swimming next month following shoulder surgery.
Hackett says his comeback is well ahead of schedule and he'll compete in the 400m freestyle at a Telstra grand prix meet in Brisbane in three weeks.
"I am just so happy being back and the smile has returned knowing that I'm on the right track," Hackett said.
"It's been a frustrating few months, having to watch during the Commonwealth Games. But I'm slowly but surely getting back and it feels great.''
Hackett admits he won't set a cracking pace in Brisbane but has earmarked the Australian shortcourse championships in August to crank things up.
"I'm not putting too much pressure on myself ahead of Brisbane.'' "
"It just feels good to be back in the pool again and it's now my fitness levels that I've got to work on.''
Meanwhile, five-time Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe's comeback to racing is expected to take place during the three-meet Mare Nostrum series in Europe in June, although he may decide to return sooner, possibly at an upcoming Australian meet.
Thorpe who has raced infrequently since the Athens Olympics in August 2004 plans to base himself in the United States for a lot of his 2008 Beijing Olympic Games preparation.
Thorpe’s manager, Dave Flaskas, confirmed with Australian newspapers that the 23-year-old swim sensation is on the verge of buying a $1 million property in the exclusive Los Angeles beachside suburb of Santa Monica.
"Ian needs to race a lot before Beijing and the USA offers the chance to race weekly at an elite level in the US college system," Flaskas said.
"He, Tracey [his coach, Tracey Menzies] and Australian head coach Alan Thompson are working out a race schedule which will see him racing throughout the USA and Europe leading up to 2008."
Thompson, who believes Thorpe will spend the bulk of the year in Australia, will meet with him and Menzies later this week to map out his full itinerary which will include major meets in Europe and the US, along with altitude training in America, in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.
"I think anonymity is a very big thing for Ian there. He can live some of his life without the public scrutiny,” Thompson said.
"It's also a lot more comfortable living in a house than a hotel room. You see a lot of the successful sports people do this.''
AOC