Ian Thorpe: The Swimmer Page #3

So I put the beaker thing,

and you've got a lid for it,

and so I was, like,

'Oh, I'll put the lid on

as I finish going to toilet,'

and I pushed it on,

hand soaked right through it.

I'm, like, 'Oh.' And then I'm, like,

'Is the sample big enough?'

I'm, 'Uh...' Trying to...

Yeah. Anyway, um...

So that was my drug test

last night.

Nice.

So why have you come here

on your own? Is it to get away?

Is it to focus?

Yeah, it's just so that there's not

another layer of things

that I have to handle

and do and...

Why would you make something that's

already hard

more difficult?

That's what I like about my sport and

about training,

that pursuit of perfection.

Ask me in six months, but,

you know, when I compete,

I compete knowing that, you know,

I've trained harder

than everyone else,

and usually my competitors

know that as well,

so when it comes to race day, uh,

usually I have very little concern

around what I'm gonna do.

So how are you going

with getting back to that

elite level of training?

Is it going well?

Well, not crap. I'm just not as good

as I should be.

But there's something

in the combination of my size,

my hip width, my proportions

just work for what I do.

Now that I have to do

shorter events,

I really have to modify

the technique that I have

to suit those events.

So this part here

is called the catch,

um, and then all the way

to the catch is the recovery,

so I'm actually usually there

when I start to catch, here.

So my other arm's above the water,

which is just...

Like, you can see how

it's kind of a bit odd.

So I have to now initiate here, which

I've never done before,

when this hand's coming

under water there,

which is right for sprinting,

and so you kind of throw yourself

over the top.

Maybe it's true that

this whole thing

will take longer

than what I thought.

18 months of training might not be

enough to make the Olympic team.

Maybe what I'm attempting

is impossible.

And the winner of Australia's most

popular male Olympian

is Ian Thorpe.

The Young Australian of the Year is

Ian Thorpe.

Well, the Telstra

People's Choice Award this year

goes to Ian Thorpe.

He makes swimming look so easy.

His name is Thorpe, the greatest

that we've probably ever seen.

He's a very good

media performer.

I think he's astute,

he gets the media.

The intrigue and the mystique

and the aura

had made it, 'We want more.

We want more.'

We noticed the BRW quoted

Michael and Suzie and Ian

all being around the $1.2,

$1.3 million-dollar earnings

in sponsorships.

One of the biggest criticisms

from the Australian public

has been sometimes

Ian's been too manufactured

and too silky-smooth

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