During a visit to Wollongong on Friday swimming legend Ian Thorpe spoke about everything from how he broke his ankle in the Royal National Park prior to the Sydney Olympics to Emma McKeon’s performance in Rio.
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Thorpe was the guest speaker at Illawarra Women In Business at the Novotel where more than 350 people heard from the swimmer considered by many as Australia’s greatest Olympian. Thorpe was generous with his time. He not only talked for longer than asked but answered many questions. He spoke about changing his mindset during his career to become a better competitor and being “one of those weird athletes who prefers training to racing”.
Thorpe spoke of how thought he would have competed in one or two more Olympics and how he admired everyone who has reached that level including David and Emma McKeon. “When we look at Olympic success and the commitment to be able to achieve something like that it happens only to a fortunate few that are prepared to make sacrifices and to dedicate their lives to the achievement.”
Looking back at Rio he said there were there were some great performances in the pool. “The way this team has reshaped itself over the last four years has really been commendable. To consider we have tripled our gold medal count from the previous Olympics is an achievement”.
On Emma McKeon’s performance with one gold, two silver and one bronze Thorpe admired the way she fought back after her disappointment on the second day. “I felt for Emma when she competed after what must have been a highlight in the women’s 4x100 metres freestyle to defend the title we won at London”. Thorpe said he knew from his experience in Sydney that after such a high on the first night of competition there was always a lull the next day. He said it was difficult to get up after those kind of performances when you have given your all. “It is hard to take in the emotional state that comes from being on that roller-coaster ride after the high of..winning an Olympic gold medal. I hated watching Emma when she was disappointed that night where she missed out on the result she wanted. I think she did an exceptional job being able to pick herself back up. For us she is one of the best all-rounder kind of swimmers that we have in the country. And I wish her the best.”
The lunch was sponsored by McKeon’s Swim School and many Illawarra businesses and continued director Glenda Papac’s quest to have at least two high profile speakers each year. In 2016 Illawarra Women in Business has had three including Mark Bouris in February and Royal Caribbean’s senior vice president international Gavin Smith in July.