Ian Thorpe received a personal call from the acting Prime Minister of Australia during the New South Wales Swimming Championships that he had been selected as the outstanding 'Young Australian of the Year'. He had also named as the winner of the 'Young Australian Sports Award' earlier.

Previously he had been named the 'Sport Australia Male Athlete of the Year', the 'Sports Personality of the Year', 'World Swimmer of the Year' and 'Australian Swimmer of the Year'. He also received an award as the athlete who most inspires the nation and was the recipient of the 'People's Choice Australian of the Year' award.

This year Ian is raising his sights to include the 1500m freestyle event in his repertoire.