Australian Ian Thorpe sounded impatient on Thursday to battle it out with American Michael Phelps in what could be one of the highlights of the Athens Olympics.
"He's not the only one who can swim fast," Thorpe said of Phelps, who has replaced him as the number one swimmer in the world in the run-up to the August 13-29 Games.
"There are also some Europeans but my name is Ian Thorpe and I will swim very fast in Athens," the Australian said at his team's training camp in
Phelps is hoping to better Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics by entering in eight events at Athens.
Thorpe, who already has three gold medals from Sydney four years ago, is chasing Spitz's career tally of nine and said he believed his rivalry with Phelps could even extend long past the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
"I want to be swimming for another 10 years at least," he said.