Ian Thorpe Retires From Swimming

I'm gutted. Who's gonna light a fire under Michael Phelps? I wonder if Ian called up Bjorn Borg (who quit at 26) to talk about retiring at the peak of his abilities and whether Borg regretted it or not. I can't imagine retiring when I could still win more championships, more Olympic golds. I suppose in some way it's better to drop out than fade away, but that wouldn't have happened to him for years, even without the proper motivation. I'm a big swimming fan (along with tennis, baseball, bull riding, NASCAR, and other Olympic sports like gymnastics, skating and wrestling), though of course I almost never get to watch it since TV screws with most of my favorite sports on a regular basis.