Five-time Olympic swim champion Ian Thorpe believes that the London 2012 Aquatics Center looks better in person than it did on the drawing board.
The Australian visited London's Olympic Park for the first time Thursday, and said the nearly completed Aquatics Center was arguably more impressive than the one where he won three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Games.
''To come around and see how complete everything is, it's exciting,'' said Thorpe, who retired from competitive swimming in 2006. ''It's very different seeing something in its presentation mode when it looks really shiny and everything, and when you actually go and see it, it doesn't really come up in the same way.
''But this is quite extraordinary, that it is replicated in the same way when it is built as when it was presented.''
The 17,500-seat arena, with its distinctive sweeping roof, will be scaled down to a 3,000-capacity venue after the 2012 Games. It will contain two 50-meter pools with moveable floors, a diving pool and a dry-land training area.
''This may be the first project that has a true legacy. ...'' Thorpe said of the London Olympics. ''It is real. Not only will this give back to Greater London and the whole area, hopefully it will give back to the whole world.''
Thorpe said the determination of London organizers to ensure use of all the facilities after the games and tie them to the city will lend a distinctive character to the event.
''London's good at this, being different. The mood of the world is different now,'' Thorpe said. ''It's not going to be a big games like Beijing, and that's neither a good thing or a bad thing.''
