Thorpe to miss world championships

Ian Thorpe will skip this year's world swimming championships in Montreal in an attempt to peak for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, his coach Tracey Menzies said on Monday.

Menzies said in an interview broadcast on Australian television that Thorpe wanted to take a year off competition to avoid burn-out.

"This year, 2005, Ian won't be standing up to race at world titles," Menzies said.

"(It's) going to be hard for the Australian team and hard for his team mates -- but it's something he needs to do in preparation for Beijing."

Thorpe, 22, has been in the Australian senior team since he was 14 but took a long break after last year's Athens Olympics where he won four medals, including gold in the 200 and 400 metres freestyle.

He has returned to light training but is well below peak fitness. The Australia trials are scheduled for next month.

Thorpe has won 11

He became the youngest man to win a world title when he took the 400m freestyle as a 15-year-old in Perth in 1998. He won a record six gold medals at Fukuoka in 2001 and in 2003 in Barcelona he became the first swimmer to win the same event three times when he triumphed again over 400m.

His team mate Grant Hackett, who won the 1500m for the third time running in Barcelona, will now be the favourite to win the 400.

Thorpe's next major assignment will be next year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne followed by the 2007 world championships, also in Melbourne.

"It is definitely going to be a hard path for him to get himself back in shape but it's not something I would do if I didn't think he wasn't capable of coming back," Menzies said.