11/05/24
November 20, 2006
Five-time Olympic swimming champion Thorpe retires: Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe retired from competitive swimming Tuesday at the age of 24, saying breaking records "wasn't as inspiring as it should have been."
Well, I'm sure he knows what's best for himself. But I don't think the media will leave him alone too quickly.
posted by Fence at 04:10 AM on November 21, 2006
Geez, way to ruin a great Olympics storyline, Thorpe. I can't understand how not being the absolute best at what you can do isn't inspiring. Tiger Woods should hold a bootcamp for guys like this.
posted by bperk at 06:50 AM on November 21, 2006
I can appreciate that kind of sentiment. Guy conquors his sport, gets bored with it - moves on. He's 24 and swam competitively since 1990. Shit, I might be a little bored with the routine, too if I was doing it since I was 8 years old. Go do something new with your bad self. Suggestions: - Swimwear boutique - Chain of eponymous donut stores (worked for a certain pro-athlete around here) - Needlepoint - Wake boarding - Background extra in film/TV - Barfly
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:13 AM on November 21, 2006
There's always public office, and he better date at least one of the Minogue sisters. But really, yeah, he's set. He had a fine run, got no small amount of glory, and he's clearly known the writing was on the wall after his Olympics went so well. And imagine being able to tell everyone for the rest of your life, "They call me... the Thorpedo." Even when he's 60 and fat, that line will still totally work.
posted by chicobangs at 09:17 AM on November 21, 2006
Ehhh, he ain't inspired because its been too long since he was the absolute best. 4 years since he set a world record...he isn't living up to his own high standards. When you're that much better than anyone else you are your only competition and he can't meet his own standards anymore.
posted by deflated at 12:01 PM on November 21, 2006
"They call me... the Thorpedo." Even when he's 60 and fat, that line will still totally work. Classic!
posted by myshtigo at 12:34 PM on November 21, 2006
and he better date at least one of the Minogue sisters Highly unlikely, for sooooo many reasons. Not that there's anything wrong with that. 4 years since he set a world record...he isn't living up to his own high standards It must be tiring, and boring, to follow that black line on the bottom of the pool. He's had a few problems with illness in the run up to competitions lately, which probably also explains his lack of recent WR times. But a tremendous career, and a nice guy. And he won't have any problems finding a job in the media if he wants one. Great range of underwear he promotes, too.
posted by owlhouse at 03:36 PM on November 21, 2006
It must be tiring, and boring, to follow that black line on the bottom of the pool. I find it somewhat boring and tiring and I don't swim nearly as much as Thorpe nor have I swam competitively since I was eight.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 05:03 PM on November 21, 2006
I swim three times a week with a Masters team, and the thin, black line does get dull. I can only imagine how bad it would get if I did even a fraction of the distance the top-level guys do. I usually just flirt shamelessly with my lane-mates. Time flies when you're sexually harassing each other.
posted by dusted at 06:39 PM on November 21, 2006
How many yards do you usually do in a practice?
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 08:02 PM on November 21, 2006
It varies. Somewhere between 3000 and 4500 is average, with an occasional 5000+ workout. It's always an hour and half, so the variation is just how many (and which) drills compared to sets. I've read about some top college athletes and olympians that do 3-4 times that every day.
posted by dusted at 08:54 PM on November 21, 2006
There is no way I'd be able to swim 15,000 to 20,000 yards in a day.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:53 AM on November 22, 2006
From the article: "It's a very dark question for me. Swimming has been a security blanket," he said. But, "I haven't balanced out my life. I realized I had to prioritize other things and had to let swimming take a back seat -- I'm looking at the next phase." That makes total sense to me, because that's the reason why I'd quit: to have a life. Many people like to imagine that they'd sacrifice anything for an Olympic gold medal or a world championship, but in fact, very few people do take themselves to their personal extremes to see just how far they can go in competitive sports. If you do so, no matter what level you achieve, you'll find that you have to make some big sacrifices. If you make your athletic excellence the number one priority in your life, such that anything else can and will be sacrificed for it, you end up missing out on a lot of other things: having a family, having -- if we're being honest -- probably any kind of really worthwhile primary relationship, getting an education, pursuing other pastimes, living where you want to live, spending most of your time at home. The argument is that you can always do those things later, but past a certain point, I can see where no amount of potential gold medals would make up for not having all those other things that us ordinary folks take for granted, and seeing the years go by that you'll never get back. As the saying goes, life begins when you get one. Best of luck to Thorpe in making the transition -- I can imagine it's going to be a huge challenge -- and may his internal compass guide him to the next thing.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:16 AM on November 22, 2006
There is no way I'd be able to swim 15,000 to 20,000 yards in a day. They do it in two or more workouts. When I was competing in college, we'd have a morning and afternoon workout. I never got to the top levels, but I did do a few long days. For the last ten years or so, there's been a big backlash against the "put in the yards" long workouts. If you read books like Total Immersion, or check out the author's site, you'll see the approach used by most good coaches now. There's more emphasis on drills that lengthen and balance your stroke. They use drills that teach you how to roll using your hips and reach far forward and "trade hands" in the front of your stroke. In other words, they now teach you to swim like the Thorpedo. If you watch him, he looks like he's barely working (25 sec. YouTube), switching back and forth so smoothly. Even the 50m sprinters use his style, although it's hard to see when they're moving so fast.
posted by dusted at 11:29 AM on November 22, 2006
Great stuff, dusted. Thank you.
posted by qbert72 at 12:02 PM on November 22, 2006
Sure thing.
posted by dusted at 04:37 PM on November 22, 2006
I have a friend who swims at Oakland University, he used to be a bit chubby but college swimming got rid of that.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 08:15 PM on November 22, 2006
He'll make one hell of a Masters swimmer in his retirement.