Thorpe ready for long-awaited return in Singapore

The 29-year-old made his announcement at the start of February and he returns to action almost exactly five years after walking away from the sport and seven years since his last international competition at the Athens Olympics.

Thorpe has been training in Switzerland under Gennadi Touretski, who guided Alex Popov to four Olympic and six world titles.

Given he is racing in the 100 metres individual medley and 100m butterfly in Singapore, rather than his specialist freestyle, and in a short-course (25m) pool, the next couple of days will give the swimmer a return to a racing environment rather than any indication as to where he ranks on the world stage. Thorpe said yesterday: “I would be lying if I said I think I will be able to do this or that – I really don’t know. I think there’s an area I will fall into where it is not going to be extraordinary and it’s not going to be horrible.

“It becomes an important step for what I am going to do next year so this is the starting point and it will be good to finally have an opportunity to race.”

Thorpe has always played down his long-term chances of replicating his early stellar success given the domestic competition in Australia alone from the likes of world 100m freestyle champion James Magnussen and Olympic silver medallist Eamon Sullivan.

He added: “I came to terms with failure when I started this. I looked at it and went ‘you know what, chances are you are probably going to fail at this’ and I was comfortable with that fact.”

In his first incarnation, Thorpe enjoyed an intense rivalry with Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband. Going into the Sydney Olympics, the scrutiny on the then 17-year-old Thorpe was acute. However, Van Den Hoogenband beat him into second place in the 200m freestyle before the positions were reversed four years later in Athens.

Van Den Hoogenband’s former coach Jacco Verhaeren, now head of the Dutch team, said: “He is still an icon. I love to see him swimming because he is a natural, he is a talent.

“If he is able to reach his level or even better I think that is going to be a hell of a job, but I think that because he is such a natural, good swimmer, it must be possible for him.”