Nugent says Thorpe didn’t want to swim and his goggles fell off

Australian head coach Leigh Nugent says there were mitigation factors to Ian Thorpe’s 52.28 and 4th in the Zurich International 100 meters freestyle last week, and that his 3:59.28 in the 400 meter was just a cruise. Via Reuters

“Bernard Savage was there and he got the impression from Ian that he didn’t really want to swim there,” Nugent said.

“In the 100 his goggles came off and that did him in a bit psychologically.”

“In the 400 he never raced for performance. He raced it more as a cruising swim and he felt pretty good about that.”

(Thorpe at the Oerlikon, 3rd from left)