That Sinking Feeling

Rightfully, the nickname ‘The Shark’ should have been given to IanThorpe. And it would have had it not been for the fact that this sobriquet hadlong been bestowed on fellow Australian and one of the best golfers the game hasseen, Greg Norman. While Norman reminds you of anything but the killer mammal, having gained infamy for wilting at the death, Thorpe appears to be the veryembodiment of the fierce fish, both in appearance and intent.

Just 20, Thorpe lives most of his life and makes his living by racing in thewater, intimidating the competition with his presence and prowess, and most ofthe time, cutting them to size. In order to slice through the water with minimumresistance, he dons a full-body black wetsuit, which clings to his colossalframe. His vital statistics: 6 feet 4 inches height, 105 kgs weight, a neck thatresembles the stump of an oak tree, an arm span that extends nearly two metres,and feet size -- hold your breath --17. Perched on the starting block, Thorpecuts an imposing figure.

He’s even more imposing when he hurls himself into the water and propelshimself forward in his preferred freestyle stroke, using his large wing span andflipper-like feet. His stroke is characterised by an economy of movement, somuch so that he appears to be caressing the water, even as others around himseem to be waging war with it. He motors on, quietly, efficiently, stealthily.The ‘shark’? Ah, but that’s been taken by Norman. He’s been given ‘Thorpedo’,brute power and accuracy in the water personified.

It’s a tag that sits well on his humungous shoulders and mature head. Inhis short six-year international career, Thorpe has scooped a rich haul in thepool: at last count, 22 world records, 10 Commonwealth Games gold medals, eightWorld Championship titles and five Olympic medals (three golds and two silvers).Phew! Funny thing is, as a kid, he was allergic to chlorine!

Thorpe is just getting warmed up. Many peers and critics feel Thorpe’s bestis yet to come. Such prophecies might well compel rivals to go swimming in lesscompetitive habitats. But for the sport’s afficionados, it’s a rareopportunity to see a champion athlete -- perhaps, the best ever this sport hasseen, though Thorpe himself would squirm at such adulation -- at the peak of hispowers, competing as much against himself as against rivals, trying to stretchthe boundaries of his sport.

Thorpe is currently training and competing with the 2004 Athens Olympics inmind. Athens is still more than a year away, but there are good reasons tobelieve that Thorpe could launch an assault on the biggest gold medal haul in asingle Olympics -- Mark Spitz’s seven golds in the pool at the 1972 MunichGames.

In the lead-up events, instead of polishing his art in his petmiddle-distance freestyles (200, 400 and 800 metres), Thorpe is spreading hiswings and broadening his sights. In recent months, he’s added the freestylesprints (50 and 100 metres) as well as the two individual medleys (200 and 400metres), competing in them sporadically. The Australian Nationals, scheduledlater this month, will see him enter four events.

In the recent past, Thorpe has shrugged off probings by intrepid reportersand fans on whether he’ll be taking a crack at Spitz’s record at Athens. Butever since he parted ways with his long-standing coach Doug Frost last year andwent under the tutelage of Tracy Menzies, he’s been experimenting with moreevents.

Ergo, there’s a possibility that Thorpe might sign up for seven, eveneight, events in the 2004 Games. He’ll almost surely swim the freestyle in thethree middle-distance events and in the three relays (4x100 freestyle, 4x200freestyle and the 4x100 medley). That leaves him to choose two more events. Bymixing it up and testing the competitive waters in his new events, Thorpe seemsto be giving himself plenty of leg room to make that call.

Of course, much will depend on how good he feels his chances are in the newevents and whether the Athens itinerary favours the pursuit of such loftyambitions, and allows him a realistic shot. It’s important that Thorpe’sevents are spaced out and staggered, so that he can swim on the limit. It’snot just one race; there are the heats, the semis and the finals. Spread outover eight events, that could be punishing.

Taking on a greater workload could backfire for Thorpe, especially in eventswhere he isn’t a country mile ahead of his rivals. Like the 200 metresfreestyle, which will see him renew his rivalry with good friend and sometimesnemesis, Holland’s Pieter van den Hoogenband. In his other ‘non-chosen’events too, the competition isn’t going to make it easier for Thorpe.

Spitz recently said he would love to see Thorpe go for the record, but handedout a word of warning: "I would hope that the people that surround Ianaren't leading him down the path of trying to attempt him to do something thatwould actually make him look foolish and actually be more destructive to his owninner-person than what it would be to just back off and just say, 'Hey I'm goingto the Olympics to win the 100, 200 and 400 metres freestyle, which has neverbeen done before'."

Athletes thrive on challenges, whether it comes in the guise of settling oldscores, setting the record straight, rewriting record books or raising the bar.For the best, perhaps, it’s harder to stay motivated and have the recurringurge to compete, as there’s little left to prove. It’s even harder when you’rethe best and are a considerable distance ahead of the field.

Boris Becker was a classic example of a champion at the top of his game beingknocked off the summit because of a lack of motivation. Explains Bob Brett, theGerman’s coach during his climb to the top of the world rankings: "Beckerjust lost it after he became number one. He still had the game, but he had lostit in the mind. He had no drive left to continue playing tennis, leave alone towin."

But then, for every five or 10 Beckers, along comes a Sampras. Or a Hewittand Graf. In other sports, in the present, there’s Tendulkar, Schumacher,Woods, Marion Jones... These athletes love to compete against themselves, createnew challenges and goals for themselves, and rush headlong in that conquest.Thorpe too belongs to this elite grouping, and that perhaps explains his glanceat Spitz’s haul.

Thorpe is far from mastering his new events, leave alone being the best inthem. Even as he continues to work on understanding the nuances of the newdisciplines and snip milliseconds on the timing beam, he’s realistic andhumble enough to acknowledge that it’s a tall -- though not impossible -- ask.

Says Thorpe: "The possibility is there, but I don't think I'll winseven. That's such a fantastic achievement, and I've said before it's somethingI don't think I'll achieve. I'll be trying to swim as well as I can." It’stypical Thorpe, the master of understatement and a picture of humility. That’squite a contrast to Spitz, who, in his hey-days, was outspoken and cocky. Beforethe 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the American declared he would win six golds; heended up with two, but more than made up in Munich.

Thorpe won’t be caught dead shooting his mouth of or making outlandishstatements. It’s just not in his nature. To many, even in his own land, it’ssurprising and unreal, for Thorpe comes from a country with a rich sportingethos, where athletes wear their hearts on their sleeves and being jocular is away of life.

Thorpe is a throwback to the yesteryears of sport, the very antithesis of thequintessential Australian the world is used to seeing on sporting arenas. Andtherein lies his appeal. Shy, polite, mild-mannered, gracious and articulate,Thorpe is bemused by the public interest in his life and the adulation he gets.

Behind the stardom, flashlights and attention, though, there’s an everydayguy who is extremely dedicated in the pursuit of his art form, one whorecognizes the beauty and the bigger, truer purpose of sport.

Before the 2000 Sydney Olympics, his first, he said: "I'm not obsessiveas some may think, but I'm obsessed with the Olympics and what good comes fromthem. It is the one time that the world stops and lets its people do thetalking. When prowess dominates over economic barriers. It is the only time whenyour race, colour, creed or religion is irrelevant. We compete against eachother as one world. It is a time when the human spirit triumphs over all and thewinner is everyone. Everyone that experiences the Games… I look atperformances from past Olympics, and I’m continually inspired by them."

There couldn’t be a nicer, more deserving swimmer to break Spitz’srecord.