Thursday, 29 March 2012:

Ian Thorpe has wasted no time in returning to training and insists he's as motivated as ever to swim despite falling short of a place at the London Olympics.

The five-time Olympic gold medallist has had little more than a week to reflect on the recent trials in Adelaide, where he missed out on place at a third Games in the 100m and 200m freestyle.

The 29-year-old said after the event he planned to continue swimming and he has quickly returned to the pool ahead of a heavy block of training.

Although he admits the disappointment from Adelaide is still lingering, Thorpe said he had no problems motivating himself to get back in the water.

"It was actually pretty easy. I had a couple of days off and then got back into it," Thorpe told AAP on Thursday.

"I'm still disappointed but once the competition was over I found the resolve to continue doing what I'm doing and I'm as motivated as what I was before.

"I still have exactly the same intentions."

While Thorpe fell short of his own expectations in Adelaide, Australian head coach Leigh Nugent saw enough to predict the swimmer could still get back to his best with more training.

While Thorpe has not completely ruled out swimming on to the Rio Olympics in 2016, it's more likely he will target next year's world championships in Barcelona and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

But Thorpe is yet to decide on where and when he will return to competition as he builds towards those events.

"I have literally no idea when I'll be back in competition," Thorpe said.

"It will be sometime during this year but I most definitely haven't made any decision on which competition it will be.

"The next phase for me is really a pretty significant training block."

Thorpe is likely to return to his Swiss training base soon but has expressed an intention to spend more time training in Australia this year.

He's also keeping busy out of the pool, after being announced on Thursday as a goodwill ambassador for Australia's pavilion at the Yeosu Expo in South Korea in May-August.

AAP