Olympic gold medallists Libby Trickett and Ian Thorpe will both make their return to international swimming at the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup in Singapore in early November with Australia to send a 26-strong team to the two-day meet.

Having both sat out from international competition since announcing their comeback to the sport, Thorpe and Trickett will swim in all three Asian legs of the FINA/ARENA World Cups starting in Singapore (Nov 4-5), then Beijing (Nov 8-9) and finishing in Tokyo (Nov 12-13).

For the five-time Olympic gold medallist Thorpe, who will turn 29 in October, the Singapore meet will be his first competition since 2006, while for 26-year-old Trickett, who is back training with Stephan Widmer in Brisbane, she has not raced internationally since the 2009 FINA world championships in Rome.

Swimming Australia Head Coach Leigh Nugent said the three meets will provide a number of athletes with the opportunity to race and gain vital experience in the lead up to London.

“In the case of Libby and Ian, these meets will provide them with their first opportunity to race internationally and officially start their race preparation for next year’s Australian Championships and Olympic selection trials in Adelaide (Mar 15-22).

“I know both athletes have been working hard since making their intentions clear about returning to the competition pool, and while I won’t be focussing too much on their results, I’ll be very interested to see how they prepare themselves and go through their race processes over the series of meets.”

Thorpe will join the Australian Team from his training base in Tenero, Switzerland where he has been preparing with coach Guennadi Touretski.

“I’m excited about being part of an Australian Swim Team again after all these years,” said Thorpe.

“The reality for me is I’m now at the next stage of my preparation and getting ready to race competitively, and I’m really looking forward to catching up with everyone in Singapore."

For Trickett, who swam at this year’s Australian Short Course Championships in Adelaide in July, the meet will be her first chance to race internationally since announcing her comeback in August last year.

“I didn’t get the chance to swim in Europe earlier in the year because of a wrist injury so it’s going to be great to get back in the water and compete on the international stage,” said Trickett.

“From a training perspective, I’ve really enjoyed the move back to Brisbane, working with Stephan, and I guess this is the next step in trying to secure a spot on the team for London next year.”

Joining the comeback duo will be experienced Olympians including the likes of Eamon Sullivan, Brenton Rickard, Jessicah Schipper and Kylie Palmer while the Australian team will also feature some promising juniors in Cameron McEvoy, Nicholas Schafer and Emma and David McKeon who will also swim throughout the series.

“As well as setting qualifying times for this team, we’ve also made the decision to target some promising young athletes and I’ll  be very interested to see how they perform as it is important for us to give them this opportunity at this stage of their career,” said Nugent.

“Cameron McEvoy raced really well at the World Junior Championships in Lima and David McKeon showed he is continuing to improve with success at the World University Games.”

The majority of the 26-strong team competing in Singapore will stay on for the Beijing and Tokyo legs of the FINA/ARENA World Cups, while individual athlete entries will not be confirmed until two weeks out from the start of the Singapore meet.

FINA/ARENA World Cup – Australian Teams
4-5 November – Singapore – Total 26
Matthew Abood, Tim Antalfy, Sam Ashby, Andrew Lauterstein, Cameron McEvoy, David McKeon, Kyle Richardson, Brenton Rickard, Christian Sprenger, Eamon Sullivan, Ian Thorpe, Chris Wright, Cate Campbell, Merindah Dingjan, Blair Evans, Ellen Fullerton, Rachel Goh, Olivia Halicek, Yolane Kukla, Grace Loh, Emma McKeon, Kylie Palmer, Leiston Pickett, Jessicah Schipper, Mikkayla Sheridan, Libby Trickett

8-9 November – Beijing – Total 24
Tim Antalfy, Sam Ashby, Robert Hurley, Andrew Lauterstein, Kyle Richardson, Brenton Rickard, Christian Sprenger, Eamon Sullivan, Ian Thorpe, Chris Wright, Cate Campbell, Merindah Dingjan, Blair Evans, Ellen Fullerton, Rachel Goh, Olivia Halicek, Yolane Kukla, Grace Loh, Emma McKeon, Kylie Palmer, Leiston Pickett, Jessicah Schipper, Mikkayla Sheridan, Libby Trickett

12-13 November – Tokyo - 19
Tim Antalfy, Sam Ashby, Robert Hurley, Andrew Lauterstein, Kyle Richardson, Brenton Rickard, Christian Sprenger, Eamon Sullivan, Ian Thorpe, Chris Wright, Cate Campbell, Merindah Dingjan, Blair Evans, Rachel Goh, Olivia Halicek, Yolane Kukla, Grace Loh, Leiston Pickett, Libby Trickett

Swimming Australia