Ian James Thorpe

Ian Thorpe competing as a child (www.yahoo.com)

Ian James Thorpe or as we know him Ian Thorpe Thorpey or Thorpedo was born in Sydney on the 13 of October 1982. At a young age Ian was allergic to chlorine water, but by the age of 6 he grew out of it and he decided to start swimming at S.L.C. Aquadot. His talents were recognised and he is now a two time Olympic swimmer.

At 15 he won young Australian of the year. Ian won four gold medals and broken a world record at the 1998 Commonwealth games. He has also won athlete of the year in 1999,has been in two Olympic games, has won five gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze.

Ian Thorpe competing at the 2004 Athens Olympics (www.yahoo.com)

Listed below are Ian’s Personal Bests: ·100m Freestyle 48.71 2nd fastest in Australian history ·200m Freestyle 1.44.06 World Record ·400m Freestyle 3.40.08 World Record ·800m Freestyle 7.39.16 World Record ·100m Backstroke 55.38 3rd fastest in Australian history 200m Individual Medley 1.59.60 Commonwealth Games

Ian helps fundraising for leukemia and cancer research and he often visits St. George Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital in Sydney.

As we know Ian Thorpe is an Australian Olympic hero who trains full time. We hope to see him again in the 2008 Olympics, but we also hope that he keeps up his charity work. We class Ian Thorpe as a hero because of his ongoing charity work and his competitiveness and good sportsmanship to compete for Australia.