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Birth Place: Sydney
Birth Date: 10/13/82 Discipline: Swimming Accomplishments: Broke 17 world records in swimming. |
| Born on the 13th October, 1982 in Sydney.
Ian has lived most of his life at home in Milperra with his sister, mother and father. He attended primary school at Milperra Public School. Progressed onto East Hills Technology High School. One day Ian jumped into a pool, the only problem was that he was allergic to chlorine. His doctor recommended he stay away from swimming for twelve months. As he got older a nose plug helped with his allegy and soon Ian was winning state championships. At 11 he had out grown his allegy. Don Talbot was his coach and has helped him to 17 world records. His size 17 feet are only part of his swimming success. Ian was named Austrailian Swimmer of the year on 16th of January, 2000. In 2000 he was named Young Australian of the Year. Ian is the youngest Australian male swimmer to ever represent Australia. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics he won three gold medals in 400m freestyle, 4 x 100m freestyle relay and the 4 x 200m freestyle relay. He also won two silver medals in the 200m freestyle and the 4 x 100m medley relay. The medles have all been special to him in different ways. The best memory by far is the 4 x 100m freestyle relay win in the Sydney Olympics. He said he would take that over anything he has achieved in his career so far. It was just magnificent to beat the Americans who had owned that event forever. Ian has always been grateful to all who have helped him along the way. I think we can take a leaf from Ian's book and respect and give credit to all that deserve it. |
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 Ian Thorpe |
Reece
Miss Everett Mount Annan Christian College Australia. A Century of great Australians & Ian Thorp (The Journey). |