Returning: Peirsol
Aaron Peirsol, widely regarded as one of the greatest backstroke swimmers in the history of the sport, has announced that he is to immediately return to competitive swimming.
The American’s return means he will be able to take part in the London Olympics in 2012 and defend his 100m Olympic backstroke title for an unprecedented third time. In all the 27 year-old has won seven Olympics medals, including five golds.
He will now join the likes of Australia’s Ian Thorpe and Britain’s own Steve Parry on the list of great swimmers who have returned to the sport.
It has been widely reported that Peirsol’s decision was made after calculating his chances of victory against Britain’s Liam Tancock at next year’s Olympics.
