Comeback Vote Results

"If Geoff can do it..."

The swimming world have spoken, and this is what they had to say:-

"Ian Thorpe, enough time chilling out in the sun, get back in training and make a comeback."

Thorpe was the clear winner of the comeback vote getting 138 votes. The runner up was Pieter Van Den Hoogenband (80 votes) with fellow Dutch legend Inge de Bruijn (75 votes) just 5 votes back.

- After seeing Thorpe working for the BBC during the Commonwealth Games, I think he might have started to sneak in a bit of training. He certainly looked in good shape... although a suit can do wonders. He's still just 28 years old remember. I've written plenty in the past on Thorpe returning, its safe to say I'm in favour of it happening.

- Pieter VDH on the other hand is 32 years old now and seems to have moved on in other areas of the sport. He was the Chairman of the Organising Committee for the recent European Short Course Championships. He also has two children, so his life looks to be pretty full. Still looks like he could bash out a quick 100m Free though...



- Inge de Bruijn is an intriguing prospect. Whilst she is now 37 years old, she has made a comeback once before earlier in her career. There are also plenty of examples of sprinters acheiving top results in their late 30s, early 40s... Dara Torres, 43, Lars Frölander, 36, Mark Foster, who swam until he was 38. You can't tell me every time she sees Dara Torres step up on the block, she's not itching to get back into racing.

In August stories came out that she was considering a comeback after spending some time with the Dutch team at a training camp in Tenerife. It seemed to start out as a joke, but started to take a bit more shape.

An Inge de Bruijn comeback wouldn't just be a trip down memory lane, I think she would challenge the current crop of Free and Fly sprinters. IF she does comeback, the first obstacle would be the domestic competition in Holland, the strongest women's sprint nation around.

- Other interesting results: Ian Crocker getting more votes than Brendan Hansen, lack of enthusiasm for a Susie O'Neill comeback, pretty low vote for Yana Klochkova (she got a vote from me).

Final Results

Ian Thorpe - 138 votes (41% of people voted for him)
Pieter VDH - 80 (15%)
Inge de Bruijn - 75 (22%)
Alex Popov - 57 (16%)
Ian Crocker - 41 (12%)
Brendan Hansen - 35 (10%)
Mark Foster - 34 (10%)
Janet Evans - 21 (6%)
Gary Hall Jr - 19 (5%)
Yana Klochkova - 15 (4%)
Lenny Krazelburg - 14 (4%)
Susie O'Neill - 8 (2%)

Total number of people voting - 336