Swimming Australia reigned back a little ownership of a great asset off on an overseas comeback mission today when it preempted a press conference in Switzerland at which Ian Thorpe will confirm Gennadi Touretski as his coach to London 2012.

As reported by SwimNews yesterday, Thorpe will train under the guidance of the Russian former mentor of Alexander Popov at Tenero, home of Switzerland's performance centre. Touretski, former Australian Institute of Sport Coach, is head coach to the Swiss programme.

Thorpe will spend most of his time in Tenero and a litrle of his time in Abu Dhabi and back in Australia ahead of his national Olympic trials next year.  Thorpe will confirm his plans with Touretski and Leigh Nugent, head coach to Australia, at a press conference organised by Swiss Swimming in Tenero today.

Touretski hinted at the thrill of the mission when he said: “When I first heard about Ian returning to swimming I was pleased for him and I was also pleased for Australian swimming. We all know that he left the sport at a young age, and having seen him over the last couple of days I have no doubt that he still has plenty to offer the sport, and plenty to achieve from a personal perspective.”

A Swimming Australia release this morning reads: 

Both Thorpe and Tourestski are expected to return to Australia at times to continue preparations for the 2012 Australian Swimming Championships and Olympic Trials in March 2012, and possibly link up with other members of the Australian team as part of sprint and relay camps later this year.

Nugent says to be able to put an athlete of Ian’s quality and skill into a program run by someone of Touretski’s experience and innovation is a great result for all involved.

"From the outset we wanted Ian to work with the best, and we’re pleased that he has been able to set up a situation where he can train under Gennadi as his full-time coach, and we are thankful to the Swiss Swimming Federation for their support,” said Nugent.

“The added bonus for the Australian Swim Team is that we get to use the experience and skill of someone like Gennadi in our program, and that means getting him involved in future sprint and relay camps that we’ll hold this year and next.”

Discussions with Touretski commenced in December last year and both Nugent and Thorpe are pleased with the opportunity that has been presented and thankful to the Swiss Swimming Federation.

For Thorpe, who has just completed an intensive block of training in Abu Dhabi under the guidance of Nugent and Swimming Australia Performance Scientist Bernard Savage, the chance to train with one of the best coaches in the world was too good to pass up.

“I’m looking forward to working with Gennadi, and have been hopeful for some time now that we would be able to get together,” said Thorpe.

“I know when he worked with Alex Popov and then Michael Klim he was able to work closely with them to suit their individual needs and physiology, and he’s also a real student of the sport. He is always thinking and is innovative with his training techniques looking for improvements.”

“I know this means I’ll be travelling a lot between Australia, Abu Dhabi and Switzerland but I believe that working with Gennadi is the best fit for me.”

Touretski was based at the AIS for 10 years from 1992 where he coached world record holders and Olympians Alex Popov and Michael Klim as well as working with the likes of Matt Dunn and Petria Thomas. 

Coaching swimmers to more than 40 world records throughout his career, the 61-year-old is currently the Head Coach at the National Training Centre in Switzerland and says he’s looking forward to working with Thorpe.

“When I first heard about Ian returning to swimming I was pleased for him and I was also pleased for Australian swimming,” said Touretski.

“We all know that he left the sport at a young age, and having seen him over the last couple of days I have no doubt that he still has plenty to offer the sport, and plenty to achieve from a personal perspective.”

Touretski currently coaches around eight Swiss athletes in the town of Tenero, less than 50km from the Australian Institute of Sport’s European headquarters in Verase, Italy.