Thorpedo sets the pace

Hugh Dougherty12 April 2012

In one lane was Ian Thorpe, the Australian swimming star who at 19 holds a clutch of gold medals and is nicknamed the Thorpedo. In the other was Kpiliboh Otiko, a 15-year-old Nigerian who had to buy his own trunks for the Commonwealth Games and who has earned the less speedy nickname of the Otter.

In the minutes before today's Commonwealth Games 200 metres men's freestyle event, the contrast between the two could not have been starker. Thorpe stripped off his tracksuit to reveal a hi-tech bodysuit modelled on sharkskin, while Otiko fiddled with the drawstring on his trunks.

Thorpe is a multi-millionaire who is as big a star in Australia as David Beckham is in Manchester and comes with coaches, managers and a nutritionist. Otiko had to keep on his badge identifying himself as an athlete to make sure he got to the poolside and was watched only by his team-mates.

The heat brought instant comparisons to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, when Thorpe had cruised to victory, while at the other end of the pool Equatorial Guinea's Eric "the Eel" Moussambani set a record for the slowest performance of the games.

But the Otter was one step ahead of

the Eel, he is a distinguished swimmer already - albeit rather slower than Thorpe.

The only time he was level with Thorpe was on the diving board, and for the rest of the race he had to content himself with a distant view of the Thorpedo's famous size 17 feet.

As the race went on, the difference between the two opened up, so that by the half-way stage there was half a pool length between them, a lead which Thorpe lengthened as he ploughed through the water.

In his wake, the Otter struggled

valiantly to keep up, but still came in last, 24 seconds and what seemed like a lifetime after Thorpe had comfortably been first to complete the course.

With a time of 2 minutes 12.7 seconds, he was the slowest swimmer in any of the heats, but he still managed to get a cheer from the 3,000 spectators which nearly equalled that for Thorpe, whose time of 1.48.50 was slow by his standards.

It was as the two climbed out of the pool that they came closest to meeting, as Thorpe had to wait for Otiko to finish before he could rush to the showers and prepare for yet more gold medals.

Thorpe was relaxed after winning two gold medals and smashing a world record last night. "I've qualified comfortably for the final. Hopefully I can polish up my performance tonight," he said.

Otiko, on the other hand, had less reason to smile, despite his reception from the crowd. Asked as he left the pool if he had enjoyed competing against Thorpe, whose domination of world swimming seems unanswerable, all the Otter could manage to say was: "No."

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