1998 | Ian Thorpe | World Champion | Men's 400m Freestyle | 15 Years Old | 4.46.29 

greatmemes92 Is that what he actually said? 😂

@@kingofthenerds7925 8:42

Best male swimmer maybe. Dawn Fraser and Shane Gould come to mind for the women. Mark Spitz would also feature in calculations for the men (I assume we're talking 20th century here).

Michael Phelps exists

Michael who?????

​@maxchbaro1464 not before the year 2000 in the swimming world he didn't.

I credit him with getting my swimming classification and almost making the Paralympics

I think people who mock him arw jealous for two reasons: he's a legend and a graceful mermaid.

Dustin Gabe swimmers Peak earlier than most other sports, and I can’t tell you a 15 year old doping. That is a ridiculous claim.

Times have changed. Back in the 90s and early 00s being gay was still a big thing (personal experience).

I mean I think he did he was undefeated in the 1500 for over a decade and one of the best swimmers of alltime

maybe in the 200 free, but Phelps could beat him in the other strokes

No chance. Phelps is the GOAT

hey - I'm a Thorpe fan (as you can see below) but that's a big call. Phelps is/was a total freak. 10 metres underwater on the last turn of a 400m Medley Olympic final. That's superhuman. Both their records speak for themselves. Different types of swimmers - Phelps preferred the slightly shorter events and was more versatile. Thorpe made the 400 his own when he was at his top. I mean really - how do you split legends like this?

@@Fuzcapp Thorpe went 4:26 in the 400IM the year before this. He also finished 4th in the 200 Fly at the commonwealth games. But he never swam those events again. He focused on freestyle because it was his breakthrough and also because they are the premier events. He could have had an incredible rivalry with Phelps and was probably the only person capable of beating him in the 200 Fly and IMs. But after he left Doug Frost he just went downhill. IMO he turned into a proper snob and never got anywhere near his potential. Maybe because he was so young as a rockstar athlete, maybe because he was hiding being gay. But he seemed to just become focused with money and media events.

​@@rolandgreen7484 Yes his breaststroke and backstroke in 2003 were awful. That was a disappointing performance IMO as I thought he would go under old WR which would have put him within a second of Phelps. He only just scraped through the heats and semis. FWIW in 2002 Doug Frost said at a media event that Thorpe could win 9 gold medals at one meet. One of those events would have been the 200 Fly and an IM. Phelps went 1:54 in 2001 so Frost must have felt he would have a chance of going faster. But he left Frost after this and it was clear he lost interest. If you read Thorpe's book (not a good read) he claims that Frost had told his parents before the Commonwealth games that he wasn't training properly and was in danger of losing the 400 Free to Hackett. If he had the same motivation as he had in 2001 he for sure could have gone under 4:10 in 400IM, 1:55 in 200 Fly, and 1:57 in 200IM. And who knows what he could have swam in a supersuit in 2008. He would have definitely had a great rivalry with Phelps in these events plus the 200 Free.

FreedomFrankie that you’re an idiot?

@@donna25871 Exactly Donna. FreedomFrankie - get ya hand off it, mate!

Thorpe's stroking rating (strokes per minute) is ridiculously slow, even when he is sprinting. He must be doing some mega-serious work under the water. Compare Thorpe's stroke rate to Gary Hall Jnr in the last leg of the Sydney 2000 4 x 100m relay (also - just watch it for the sheer joy of seeing the result). ... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dQQt0eTknxY.html

I believe he was touching 6'1 at 15 and I think he reached 6'5 when he retired.

This is how I swam the 400. My best I went out in 1.54.40 and back in 1.54.0. Negative splitting is the best way to race a 400 imo

Yankin ng it's 3:46

Me too!

***** he's thorpe not phelps. But yeah, I thought it too

dfisdjnjcsjsjn No Thorpe was 15 - Hackett was 17.

mc1703 from the 4x200 free