So Great Are His Feats--and Feet--Thorpe Can’t Escape the ...

SYDNEY, Australia —  He is in the store and on the shelves, and fairly soon, Ian Thorpe will be coming to a TV screen near you. The picture of the most famous 17-year-old in Australia decorates a huge department store window display in Darling Harbor. In a grocery store in a Chinatown market, Thorpe’s cheery smile jumps off a box of Uncle Tobys Sports PLUS cereal.

Which leads to one question.

Doesn’t the cereal box come after the Olympics?

Not when the world-record holding teenager has already been called the “swimmer of the century” by his national coach. All this and more well before Thorpe hits the pool for his first prelim at the Olympic Games.

Thorpe’s first race will be the 400-meter freestyle Saturday. Considering that he holds the world record in that event, nothing less than a gold medal is expected--demanded?--and practically preordained by his fervent followers.

His next individual event is the 200 freestyle--another of his world-record events--two days later and by then his place in history should be secure, alongside, and perhaps above, other Australian swimming legends such as Dawn Fraser, Shane Gould and Kieren Perkins.

Thorpe’s dominance is so pronounced that Michael Klim, his training camp roommate and close friend, chose not to compete in the 200 freestyle at the Olympics, even though he qualified for it. And Klim is no slouch at the distance, merely the 1998 world champion. The Americans don’t offer any bravado in regard to those two races, and another gifted Australian, Grant Hackett, conceded that he is using the 200 and 400 as warmups for the 1,500.

NBC’s Rowdy Gaines compared Thorpe to a world-record holding American who is heavily favored despite this being his first Olympics.

“He’s a 17-year-old Lenny Krayzelburg,” Gaines said.

Of course, Australians would say Krayzelburg is a 24-year-old Ian Thorpe.

But neither Krayzelburg, the world-record holder in the two backstroke events, nor any other American faces the kind of scrutiny and pressure Thorpe does in this swimming-crazed country.

If a heavily favored American should lose, most in the United States will probably yawn, switch the channel and check out the outtakes of that second episode of “Survivor.” Should Thorpe falter at the Games, it will be treated as a national disaster with much soul-searching and angst.

Thorpe hasn’t submitted to any one-on-one, in-person interviews for months and he was corporately cautious, if not bland, during a news conference Tuesday in an auditorium packed with about 300 reporters.

“I’m not sure what to expect because I haven’t competed at an Olympic Games before,” Thorpe said. “I just hope I’m able to handle the conditions and get the best performance out of myself.”

His coach, Doug Frost, is predicting another other-worldly showing. In the Australian Olympic trials in May, Thorpe set three world records in three days at the Sydney International Aquatic Center--the Olympic pool. He took the world record down to 1:45.51 in the 200 freestyle and 3:41.33 in the 400 freestyle.

“I’m very pleased with his program,” Frost said. “I don’t want to sound monotonous but his preparation this time is sensational. This is pretty much the point where we want to be at. Much better than he was at the trials. This has all the signs of being better than the last time.”

Swimming icon Mark Spitz, winner of seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics, provided the context of Thorpe’s ability.

“When he decides to win a race, it’s just a question of how far he is going to do it by and what the time will be,” Spitz told reporters when he arrived here Tuesday.

Thorpe is not oblivious to the pressure and scrutiny. At the Australian trials, he suffered from a migraine and stomach pains. The other day, he was minding his business in the Olympic village and discovered that a couple of athletes from another country were videotaping him.

Big Brother Down Under.

Being Ian Thorpe isn’t always simple. His every move is analyzed. Stories are written about his size-17 feet. His boyhood friends become international stories simply because, well, because they are his friends. One foreign journalist--having seen a TV commercial of Thorpe appearing to race a seal--inquired whether he was speedy enough to take out the seal.

“The best thing and worst thing are actually the same things,” Thorpe said of his life. “I think it is being recognized everywhere we go, walking down the street and going to the supermarket. Being recognized in that situation--that’s fantastic to see that kind of support--but also it can be quite daunting.

“Especially on the days that you’re not necessarily having the best day. You just want to relax and get away from it all.”

Those were some of the reasons Thorpe and a couple of his Australian teammates escaped to Colorado Springs in the summer for some high-altitude training and some low-key living.

The fascination with Thorpe is endless in Australia, as evidenced by the volume of queries on his personal Web site. Thorpe estimated he receives anywhere from 40-100 e-mails a day, and got 155 one night after one of his sensational swims.

He answers hundreds of questions, running the gamut from his boyhood days (he was allergic to chlorine) to his greatest day as a swimmer (making the Olympic team) to his early racing rivalry with his older sister Christina (they wagered chocolates).

Thorpe handles questions about politics. Asked about Aboriginal protests, he writes, “I think the Olympics is not a political event. It is a sporting event where all the nations come together in peace and compete amongst friends.”

One submission tells him he was born in the Chinese year of the dog. Thorpe replied: “Thanks for letting me know I’m a dog.”

Then there’s the obligatory music question: “N’Sync or Backstreet Boys?”

Thorpe: “NEITHER.”

Among the reams of trivial and not-so-trivial information, he likes the Smashmouth song, “Walking on the Sun.”

Hmm.

In a few days, if all goes well, they might write a new song about Thorpe.

“Walking on the Water.”