SYDNEY - Australia's five-time Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe is back in the pool and has not ruled out a return to competitive action in time for next year's London Games.

Thorpe, 28, who retired in 2006 citing waning motivation, has been training to recuperate from a shoulder injury suffered in a car accident in China more than two years ago.

Thorpe's manager, David Flaskas, has confirmed Thorpe has been training, but he also made it clear that if he were to return to competitive swimming, it would not happen overnight, newspapers reported.