Ian Thorpe - Early Years

Early Years

A large baby, Thorpe weighed 4.1 kg (9.02 lb) and measured 0.59 m (1 ft 11 in) in length at birth. Growing up in the Sydney suburb of Milperra, Thorpe hailed from a sporting family. His father Ken was a promising cricketer at junior level, representing Bankstown Cricket Club in Sydney's district competition. A talented batsman, he once topped the season's batting averages ahead of former Australian captain Bob Simpson. However, paternal pressure detracted from Ken's enjoyment of cricket, and he retired at the age of 26. Thorpe's mother Margaret played A-grade netball, but he did not inherit his parents' ball skills. His elder sister Christina was advised to take up swimming to strengthen a broken wrist, so by chance, the five-year-old Thorpe followed her into the pool. Due to his unhappy experiences, Ken Thorpe regarded enjoyment as the most critical aspect of his children's participation in sport.

As a young child, Thorpe was sidelined by an allergy to chlorine. As a result, he did not swim in his first race until a school carnival at the age of seven. The allergy forced Thorpe to swim with his head out of the water; despite this ungainly technique, he won the race, primarily because of his significant size advantage. Thorpe gradually overcame the ailment and progressed to the captaincy of New South Wales for the Australian Primary Schools Championships in 1994. He subsequently won nine individual gold medals at the New South Wales Short Course Age Championships in September of the same year. In 1995, Thorpe started his secondary education at East Hills Boys Technology High School and switched coaches to swim alongside his sister under the tutelage of Doug Frost. It was a busy year for the family; Christina was selected for the Australian team to compete at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Atlanta. Now six feet tall, Ian competed at his first Australian Age Championships, winning bronze medals in the 200 m and 400 m freestyle. He won all ten events at the New South Wales Age Championships.