Ian Thorpe’s biggest rival is usually the clock but Australia’s new high-performance director Greg Hodge issued a word of caution for anyone expecting him to add to his list of world records.

Hodge said he thought the set-up at the Manchester Aquatics Centre would hinder chances of super-fast times. “The pool is not designed as a major international competition pool in terms of its space and environment,” Hodge commented “There’s a lot of stair-climbing and walking that the athletes have to do.

“For Ian Thorpe or anybody else to break a world record, things have got to be absolutely perfect but the operation of this meet is going to be far from perfect.”