Thorpe retirement leaves Australia with sinking feeling

SYDNEY, March 15 (Reuters) The shockwaves of Ian Thorpe's sudden retirement from swimming last November are only just being felt by Australians.

Thorpe had not competed at a major international meet since the 2004 Athens Olympics but his decision to hang up his goggles has cast a pall of gloom over the Australian team's prospects at this month's world championships.

As the host nation, Australia were expecting to dominate the championships, riding a wave of public support on the back of the 24-year-old Thorpe's phenomenal pulling power.

However, his premature retirement has changed everything.

Ticket sales have been slower than expected and the swagger that has become a trademark of the Australian team has suddenly disappeared.

Head coach Alan Thompson has already conceded the team will have to settle for less than what they achieved at the last world championships in Montreal two years ago, where Australia captured 25 medals including 13 golds.

''I think the home crowd will help, but I think you also have got to be realistic and know that the world has moved forward in the last two years as well,'' Thompson recently told reporters.

''We were identifying the moves forward in Montreal, but you look at what's happened since.

''The Germans have improved dramatically... the Japanese had moved forward as well... obviously the American team is extremely strong, the Russians are solid and the Chinese have sent a full team this time.

''You're going to get a whole lot of people moving forward and that's often the way it is the year before the Olympic Games.'' HACKETT HOPES With Thorpe no longer around, Grant Hackett will be left to carry the hopes of the Australian men's team, who were lampooned by local media after failing to win a single individual title at last year's Commonwealth Games, while England, Scotland, Wales, Canada and even Papua New Guinea all tasted success.

Hackett, who missed the Commonwealth Games while recovering from shoulder surgery, was the outstanding male swimmer at the 2005 world championships, winning the 400m, 800m and 1500m titles.

The undisputed king of long-distance swimming holds two world records, is the only swimmer to win the same event at four world championships and is an overwhelming favourite to win a fifth 1500m title despite claiming he will be below his best after switching coaches.

The Australian women's team, by comparison, were the number one team both at the last world championships and Commonwealth Games.

They boast an incredible team packed with world and Olympic champions, including Leisel Jones, Libby Lenton, Jodie Henry and Jessicah Schipper.

The Australian women have grown from strength to strength over the past five years but are expecting a stiff challenge from Germany.

Lenton lost her 100m freestyle world record to Britta Steffen at last year's European championships while Australia and the US both lost relay records to the Germans.

''Being the top women's team in the world, we are always under threat. But if we just sit there, we will get run over,'' Lenton recently wrote in an Australian newspaper column.

''We are not looking to stay where we are or go backwards.

We are looking ahead and we are looking to go forward.

''It's going to be a challenging year, especially being a year out from the Olympics. Everyone takes that step up.'' REUTERS SAM RK1522