Athletes Ian Thorpe OAM

Ian Thorpe OAM (born 13th October 1982) is regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time. He won five Olympic Games gold medals, the most won by any Australian and, in 2001, became the first person to have won six gold medals in one World Championships. Thorpe won eleven World Championship golds, the highest number of any swimmer of his time.

He has been named World Swimmer of the Year four times by Swimming World magazine, and was the Australian Swimmer of the Year from 1999 to 2003.  At the age of 14, Thorpe became the youngest male to represent Australia, and his victory in the 400m freestyle a few months later at the 1998 Perth World Championships made him the youngest individual male World Champion. After that victory, Thorpe dominated the 400m freestyle, winning the event at every Olympic, World, Commonwealth and Pan Pacific Swimming Championships until the 2004 Olympics.

Aside from 13 individual long-course world records, Thorpe anchored five Australian relay teams in world record performances including a spectacular performance in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the Sydney Games. His wins in the 200m and 400m and his bronze in the 100m freestyle in Athens have made him the first person to have won medals in the 100-200-400m freestyle.
  
Thorpe was an NSWIS Scholarship holder from 1997 until 2007. He was a finalist for the NSWIS Athlete of the Year Award from 1998 until 2004, and took out the title in each of these years except 2003. Ian contributes financially to the NSWIS Annual Awards Dinner by sponsoring two award categories each year.