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IAN THORPE The Biography
From DJ Ian Thorpe unparalleled feat of winning medals at 100, 200 and 400 meters at the Athens Olympics places him among the greatest swimmers of all time and is already Australia most successful Olympian in any sport. For this authorized biography, Thorpe has opened up to give a powerfully honest insight into the forces that have shaped his enigmatic personality and his incident-packed life. (Description by http-mart)
404 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 30, 2024
Who doesn't know of the Thorpedo? If you don't but you do know of Michael Phelps. You should know that Phelps studied Thorpe and moulded his public persona on Thorpe's. There were star swimmers before Thorpe just as there has been stars since him. But it's probably fair to say that Thorpe was the first Swimming Superstar. He was feted inside and outside swimming, and while he was probably the most famous person in Australia at the peak of his powers he was also modelling for Armani, hanging out with Chelsea Clinton at the White House, and kicking back with the Royals in England. He was known around the world. He was front page news everywhere.
This book was published just after Thorpe's success in Athens. An Olympics that made Thorpe the first and only athlete to ever win a medal in the individual 100m, 200m, and 400m freestyle at an Olympics. As the book points out the 100 metres is 15 percent ATP, 50 percent anaerobic, and 35 percent aerobic; the 200 metres is a ratio of 10 to 30 to 60; and the 400 metres is 5 to 25 to 75. To put it another way the difference in energy and aerobic demands is the equivalent of Usain Bolt winning 100m up to 1500m. Such different energy systems, it's absolutely incredible. Not even Phelps could achieve such range in his own peerless career.
If you've seen Thorpe swim you'll know that he's one of one. I was reading this book looking for tips for my own swimming but it only confirmed my opinion that Thorpe was entirely unique in the world of swimming and that no one will ever be able to swim like him. The author repeatedly remarks on Thorpe's combination of flexibility and strength, his 1.96m height, and his size 17 feet. While Thorpe has always hated the "freak" appellation, it's pretty close to the mark. As Thorpe's coach Doug Frost says in the book.
His kicking power allows him to
It will come as no surprise to hear that Thorpe had a sports mad father. It may however be surprising to hear that his father was on the trajectory to make the Australian cricket team but burnt himself out and as such vowed never to push his own children. They somehow developed insane drives and pushed themselves to places their father could never dream of. Thorpe's sister, Christina was an Australian swimmer as well. And she taped this to the back of the toilet door in their childhood home.
Christina never quite reached the success her training dictated and she puts that down to not having the mental game that her brother Ian developed. Ian often talks about seeing no merit in trying to play games with other swimmers and building tactics around getting into their head. Equally he never had anyone else in his head. He has always just swum his races to maximise his own ability. It seems here that the lion does not concern itself with the opinions of the sheep.
Most coaches in swimming will teach an extended S shape for the way you pull your hand back through the water. This is an effort to always be pulling against still water. I did discover that part of Ian's secret beyond his phenomenal kick and surfboard like tendencies are that he
It was interesting to read about his swimming suit as well. About a decade ago world records were falling every week as a new generation of supersuits were allowing athletes to swim astoundingly fast. FINA has since banned those suits and that has put the whole thing to bed. Suits were also controversial in Thorpe's time but I was super interested to read that Thorpe's suit was not about reducing drag like the more recent supersuits do. Instead his was based on Alpine Sking suits that focus on compression for increased performance. Thorpe's suit put his body under extreme compression which he believes worked perfectly with his type of muscles and allowed him to exert a lot more force. I guess the principle is not dissimilar to the weight belt weight lifters use.
There's all the dramas of Thorpe's career in this book, his change of coach, various doping allegations, questions of his sexuality. All are handled pretty matter of factly. Although it's interesting to read a book knowing that some of it is essentially a puff piece or misdirection. I understand the book needed to be published at the peak of his powers but the honesty and insight that might have come after Thorpe had retired and also come out as gay would have made for a better biography. It's good that so much was captured in interviews by the author close to the events because it's not coloured by reflection but equally there's a falsity to a lot of it.
There's lots that could be said about how special Thorpe's swimming is, and there's dozens of races you could watch that would just blow your mind. It's hard to describe how effortless and beautiful his stroke is. He always looks like he's just cruising in a warm up, even when he's setting world records. Probably his most memorable swim will be the anchor leg he swam in the 4x100m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. A swim in which he let Gary Hall Jr the individual 100m gold medallist pass him and then reeled him back in and swim over the top of him, on a night when an hour earlier he'd won individual gold in the 400m and the whole world was watching. He was 17 years of age.
That level of grace, poise, and maturity is quite clear throughout the book. One thing the book does is never let you forget that Ian Thorpe was not just impressive for his feats in the pool but was somehow an actual angel out of it too. Despite being thrust onto the world stage at such a young age he somehow turned out to be one of the most exceptional human beings Australia has ever produced. He gave away all his prize money to charities, he gave so much of his time to kids with the most horrific illnesses, this was largely inspired by his boyhood friend Michael, who he stuck with throughout his battle with cancer. Thorpe's character is probably best summed up by an American swimmer, Josh Davis, a competitor.
If that's what your enemies are saying about you, you must be pretty special.
This book was published just after Thorpe's success in Athens. An Olympics that made Thorpe the first and only athlete to ever win a medal in the individual 100m, 200m, and 400m freestyle at an Olympics. As the book points out the 100 metres is 15 percent ATP, 50 percent anaerobic, and 35 percent aerobic; the 200 metres is a ratio of 10 to 30 to 60; and the 400 metres is 5 to 25 to 75. To put it another way the difference in energy and aerobic demands is the equivalent of Usain Bolt winning 100m up to 1500m. Such different energy systems, it's absolutely incredible. Not even Phelps could achieve such range in his own peerless career.
If you've seen Thorpe swim you'll know that he's one of one. I was reading this book looking for tips for my own swimming but it only confirmed my opinion that Thorpe was entirely unique in the world of swimming and that no one will ever be able to swim like him. The author repeatedly remarks on Thorpe's combination of flexibility and strength, his 1.96m height, and his size 17 feet. While Thorpe has always hated the "freak" appellation, it's pretty close to the mark. As Thorpe's coach Doug Frost says in the book.
His kicking power allows him to
"Get into a position where he can plane a little - like a surfboard - riding the bow wave produced by his body."
It will come as no surprise to hear that Thorpe had a sports mad father. It may however be surprising to hear that his father was on the trajectory to make the Australian cricket team but burnt himself out and as such vowed never to push his own children. They somehow developed insane drives and pushed themselves to places their father could never dream of. Thorpe's sister, Christina was an Australian swimmer as well. And she taped this to the back of the toilet door in their childhood home.
"Only the pain of a hard workout can save the agony of defeat
The difference between the ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra effort
The greatest thing in life is doing what people say can't be done.
Christina never quite reached the success her training dictated and she puts that down to not having the mental game that her brother Ian developed. Ian often talks about seeing no merit in trying to play games with other swimmers and building tactics around getting into their head. Equally he never had anyone else in his head. He has always just swum his races to maximise his own ability. It seems here that the lion does not concern itself with the opinions of the sheep.
Most coaches in swimming will teach an extended S shape for the way you pull your hand back through the water. This is an effort to always be pulling against still water. I did discover that part of Ian's secret beyond his phenomenal kick and surfboard like tendencies are that he
"minimises his S-stroke by using his great flexibility to exaggerate his body rotation, so that when he pulls his arm almost straight down the centreline of his body, he's actually pulling against still water and effectively carving an S pattern without wasting time or energy."
It was interesting to read about his swimming suit as well. About a decade ago world records were falling every week as a new generation of supersuits were allowing athletes to swim astoundingly fast. FINA has since banned those suits and that has put the whole thing to bed. Suits were also controversial in Thorpe's time but I was super interested to read that Thorpe's suit was not about reducing drag like the more recent supersuits do. Instead his was based on Alpine Sking suits that focus on compression for increased performance. Thorpe's suit put his body under extreme compression which he believes worked perfectly with his type of muscles and allowed him to exert a lot more force. I guess the principle is not dissimilar to the weight belt weight lifters use.
There's all the dramas of Thorpe's career in this book, his change of coach, various doping allegations, questions of his sexuality. All are handled pretty matter of factly. Although it's interesting to read a book knowing that some of it is essentially a puff piece or misdirection. I understand the book needed to be published at the peak of his powers but the honesty and insight that might have come after Thorpe had retired and also come out as gay would have made for a better biography. It's good that so much was captured in interviews by the author close to the events because it's not coloured by reflection but equally there's a falsity to a lot of it.
There's lots that could be said about how special Thorpe's swimming is, and there's dozens of races you could watch that would just blow your mind. It's hard to describe how effortless and beautiful his stroke is. He always looks like he's just cruising in a warm up, even when he's setting world records. Probably his most memorable swim will be the anchor leg he swam in the 4x100m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. A swim in which he let Gary Hall Jr the individual 100m gold medallist pass him and then reeled him back in and swim over the top of him, on a night when an hour earlier he'd won individual gold in the 400m and the whole world was watching. He was 17 years of age.
That level of grace, poise, and maturity is quite clear throughout the book. One thing the book does is never let you forget that Ian Thorpe was not just impressive for his feats in the pool but was somehow an actual angel out of it too. Despite being thrust onto the world stage at such a young age he somehow turned out to be one of the most exceptional human beings Australia has ever produced. He gave away all his prize money to charities, he gave so much of his time to kids with the most horrific illnesses, this was largely inspired by his boyhood friend Michael, who he stuck with throughout his battle with cancer. Thorpe's character is probably best summed up by an American swimmer, Josh Davis, a competitor.
"I admire Ian, not just for what he's done in the water but for what he's done out of it. He's got what we want, but here he is with priorities in his life. He really is ahead of the rest of the human race, and not just physically."
If that's what your enemies are saying about you, you must be pretty special.
October 30, 2023
Interesting insight into what it takes to be an athlete at this level. Would be more enjoyable if you were an aspiring competitive swimmer, as contains lots of dialog on training schedules, performance requirements.
January 23, 2020
Thorpe's rise to top in swimming from the learn to swim days to his days with the professionals in swimming.
December 5, 2024
Very repetitive and boring
January 1, 2026
Really impressed by Ian Thorpe’s commitment to his swimming and his awareness of what his strengths were.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews