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AFP: Olympic greats Ian Thorpe and Libby Trickett suffered major setbacks in their bids to make the Australian team for the London Olympics at the selection trials in Adelaide on Friday.
Five-time Olympic champion Thorpe, on the comeback trail after five years out of the pool, bombed out on qualifying for Saturday’s 200-metre freestyle final when he slumped to the 12th fastest time in the semi-finals.
Trickett also put on a brave face after missing her chance to defend her Olympic 100m butterfly title when she came third in the final behind Alicia Coutts and Jessicah Schipper with just two going through to contest the event in London.
The huge disappointment for the sold-out crowd was national sporting hero Thorpe’s failure to fight his way into the top eight qualifiers as he dropped off to finish fifth in his semi-final behind fastest qualifier Ryan Napoleon.
Thorpe’s time of one minute 49.91 seconds was almost six seconds slower than his 2001 world record of 1:44.06 for the event.
“After the race, obviously I was disappointed. The more time I’ve had to digest, the more disappointed I am,” Thorpe said.
The 200m freestyle, which Thorpe once ruled, was considered his best chance of getting into the London-bound team.
But now his hopes ride on the 100m freestyle, starting on Sunday. Even if he cannot finish in the top two, he still has a chance of swimming in the sprint relay in London by finishing in the top six.
Thorpe, 29, will be up against an expert field, including world champion James Magnussen and former world record holder Eamon Sullivan.
“I have the 100 now. I have to get myself back up,” he said.
“It’s fine to be disappointed. There’s a little bit of time to allow myself to do that tonight.
“Tomorrow, when I get back up, I have a competition to finish now. And a competition where I have to perform well. I still want my spot on this team.
“It got a bit harder this evening, but I’ll find something within myself to give myself the best shot and try not to let this detract from that possibility.”
Trickett, 27, is also on the comeback trail after a short-lived retirement, but found Coutts and Schipper too strong in a hotly-contested 100m butterfly final.
Coutts, a silver medallist at last year’s Shanghai world championships, won the final in 57.59 seconds ahead of Beijing bronze medallist Schipper in 57.88sec with both off to the London Games in July.
Trickett was third in 58.64sec and six-hundredths of a second inside the Olympic A qualifying time but not in the top two places in the event for London.
“I can’t be disappointed,” Trickett said. “I did what I went out there to do tonight, I went out after it.
“So to get as close as I did is hugely confidence building. I can’t have any regrets.”
Four other spots were filled for the London Olympics on the second night of the selection trials.
Kylie Palmer beat Bronte Barratt in the 400m freestyle and captured her Australian record in an impressive 4:03.40. Barratt was second in 4:05.74, ensuring their rivalry will continue in London.
Christian Sprenger set the year’s best time of 59.91 seconds to win the 100m breaststroke title from fierce rival Brenton Rickard, who was second in 1:00.13. It ended former world champion Rickard’s eight-year grip on the event, though the pair tied for the title in 2009.
