At 2001 World Championships, Ian Thorpe Steered Australia To Its Finest Hour In The Pool

by Ian Hanson - Oceania Correspondent

20 July 2023, 09:46am

At 2001 World Championships, Ian Thorpe Steered Australia To Its Finest Hour In The Pool

It was the first morning in Fukuoka, when all roads led to the pool in preparation for the 2001 World Championships. And as is so often the case, the race to catch the bus in some ways was just as competitive as the race for gold medals.

In our “she’ll be right” attitude, the Australians arrived only to see the red, white and blue stars and stripes of the U.S. at the front of the bus queue.

The Telstra Dolphins – as they were known – knew they would have to wait in line until the next bus arrived into the hotel car-park.

SIX GOLD: Ian Thorpe won an historic six gold medals at the 2001 Fukuoka World’s. Photo Courtesy: Sport There Library (Hanson Media Collection).

But much to everyone’s surprise the bus that arrived for the Americans just happened to be emblazoned with the larger-than-life image of none other than Australian superstar Ian Thorpe in his black Adidas swimsuit.

Sheepishly, the U.S. team piled onto Thorpie’s bus. Round One in the bragging rights to the Aussies.

Ironically, Ian himself wasn’t even in the Aussie queue – he had to be whisked out of the basement car-park to a waiting van to get to his press conference and to escape his ever-present and growing Japanese fan club who had swamped the hotel foyer waiting to greet their hero.

Thorpe was a huge name in Japan with several personal contracts, including TV Asahi who followed the superstar Aussie teen’s every stroke all round the world.

The triple Olympic gold medalist from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games had taken the sporting world by storm and he was on a mission to lead the Australians into a week-long duel with the might of a U.S. team which included among its gen-next stars, one Michael Phelps.

The Aussies, off the back of a successful home Olympic Games, were pumped up by head coach Don Talbot and his willingness to take the Americans head-on – ramming home that this was their time to shine and reach their holy grail and the Aussies would lower the might of U.S. for the first time.

Talbot had been back in charge of the team since 1989, a tough task master who appeared to hold the balance of swimming power in the palm of his hands – a masterful, scheming coach with that Midas touch.

And with Thorpe in the best form of his life after continuing his world record-breaking ways at the Australian Trials in Hobart, the Dolphins had an ace in their pack like no other – a world class performer that the U.S. just had no answer to.

Thorpie would walk away with six gold medals – his three individual events, the 200, 400 and 800m freestyle all in world record times. He also helped Australia sweep all three relays, the 4×200 freestyle relay in world-record time.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE: 800m freestyle medallists(L-R)  Graeme Smith (GBR) bronze, IanThorpe (AUS) gold, Grant Hackett (AUS) silver  Photo Courtesy: Sport There Library (Hanson Media Collection).

It would be an unprecedented dominance on the world stage which was being beamed live back every night  into Australia’s loungerooms by Channel 9s Wide World of Sports -the Dolphins were in fact a big deal.

The rest of the team fed off that frantic fame and the eight days in Fukuoka will go down in Australia’s sporting annals as the crowning glory of another golden era in the pool.

Thorpe gave the Dolphins the perfect start, lowering his own world record to an extraordinary time of 3:40.17 with teammate and fellow Olympic champion Grant Hackett taking silver in 3:42.51.

But as happened on the opening night of the Sydney Olympics, Thorpe and his teammates were not finished, repeating their golden dose in a drama charged 4x100m freestyle relay – breaking the U.S. World Championships stronghold on the event.

It was Australia first in, followed by the Netherlands (who failed to make the final in Sydney) with the Americans third home – only to be disqualified for the late replacement of a swimmer less an hour before the race – presenting Germany with the bronze.

The only change from the Olympic final to Fukuoka for Australia saw WA’s Todd Pearson (48.80) replacing veteran Chris Fydler and joining Ash Callus (48.31), Michael Klim (49.12) and Thorpe (47.87).

Night Two saw Petria Thomas win her first world championship in the 200m butterfly – after recovering from three shoulder reconstructions and swimming out of the shadows of Australia’s Madam Butterfly Susie O’Neill in a championship record of 2:06.73.

HAPPY 60TH DAD: Matt Welsh wins Fukuoka gold for his father. Photo Courtesy: Sport There Library (Hanson Media Collection).

Additionally, Olympic silver medalist Matt Welsh, swimming out in Lane One, presented his father (sitting in the grandstand) with a gold medal for his 60^th birthday, winning the 100m backstroke, also in a championship record time of 54.31.

Night Three saw the dynamic duo of Thorpe and Hackett go hammer-and-tongs again toward a new world record in the 800m freestyle, both boys under Thorpe’s world mark – Thorpe winning gold No. 3 in 7:39.16 just ahead of Hackett in 7:40.34.

A 16-lap battle royal that saw Hackett take it out, determined to unsettle Thorpe before the boy in the black suit swooped on the 1500m champion to win his third gold in the 11^th long course world record of this extraordinary 18-year-old’s career.

Twenty-four hours later, Thorpe decimated the 200m freestyle field and with it the Netherlands Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband – the Australian celebrating his fourth gold and third world record in four days in 1:44.06 – producing a devastating final lap to sink Hoogie’s hopes. The Dutchman clocked 1:45.81 for silver with American Kete Keller winning bronze in 1:47.10.

Thorpe rated that swim, his 12^th world record, as his greatest, saying: “I prepared for all my events, concentrating on myself and it’s a challenge to be competitive and swim that fast in one of the most hotly contested events.”

By Day Five, the Australians were on target to win the meet with six gold, three silver and three bronze – ahead of the U.S. and Germany.

The Gold Coast’s Giaan Rooney added gold No. 7 for Australia winning the 200m freestyle in emphatic style in a championship upset – her first world title arriving in 1:58.57.

It came after the earlier infamous disqualification of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team when Thomas, Linda MacKenzie and Eka Graham jumped into the water when Rooney touched the wall before the race had finished.

FLYING FISH: Petria Thomas on her way to the 100-200m butterfly double. Photo Courtesy:Sport There Library (Hanson Media Collection).

The Americans were also disqualified for breaking – handing Great Britain the gold – the U.S. later receiving belated gold medals when FINA deemed the decision was in fact incorrect.

Night Seven also saw Thorpie and his band of merry men, Bill Kirby, Klim and Hackett make it eight, re-writing the world record to win the 4x200m freestyle – taking 2.39 off their time set in Sydney – stopping the clock in 7:04.66.

Thorpe blasted home in 1:44.14!

The Dolphins had stolen a march on the gold-medal race with Thorpe’s history-making sixth gold alongside Welsh, butterflyer Geoff Huegill and breaststroker Regan Harrison in the 4x100m medley.

And Huegill had earlier won gold in the 50m butterfly and Thomas won the 100m butterfly, completing the 100-200 ‘fly double in a championship record of 58.27.

WORLD BEATER: Grant Hackett salutres the judge with a new WR in the 1500m. Photo Courtesy: Sport There Library (Hanson Media Collection).

The last night of Australia’s most successful World Championships campaign saw all eyes focused on Olympic and defending world champion Hackett who produced a swim for the ages – taking 7.17 seconds off Kieren Perkins 1994 world mark – clocking 14:34. 56. It was a time that would stay unchallenged for the next 10 years!

At the time, Hackett’s performance was hailed as not just another world championship or world-record swim but “arguably the greatest swim in the history of the sport.”

Hackett dedicated the swim to his coach Denis Cotterell, saying: “This has been my event for the past seven years but whatever I have done I owe everything to my coach Denis Cotterell. I have been training with Denis since I was seven years old.”

But the Dolphins’ campaign wasn’t over with the women’s 4x100m medley relay team of Dyana Calub(backstroke), Leisel Jones (breaststroke), Thomas (butterfy) and Sarah Ryan (freestyle) winning the event for the first time in World Championships history ahead of the U.S. and China.

And…surprise, surprise…Ian Thorpe was named the male swimmer of the meet.

Australia’s Telstra Dolphins were on top of the world. The top nation for the first time and the greatest ever performance by an Australian Swim Team who topped the medal tally with 13 gold, three silver and three bronze ahead of the U.S. (9-9-8) and Germany (3-6-6).

GOLDEN GUITAR AWARDS: Australia’s all conquering 4x100m freestylers (L-R) Ash Callus, Ia n Thorpe, Todd Pearson, Michael Klim. Photo Courtesy: Sport There Library (Hanson Media Collection).

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Carlos Oliveira

10 months ago

Really amazing and unforgettable to me, to be present in this pool to watch these fantastic results, at the time, as Head of Mission of our national team for the 2001 Fukuoka Swimming Worlds.

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