Ian Thorpe comeback starts well as he finishes second in individual medley heat at Fina World Cup in Singapore

After the five-time Olympic champion’s first, much-hyped dip back into the water, the 29-year-old, expressing his happiness at the way the race had gone, admitted his overriding feeling was one of “relief” that he had got the hoopla surrounding his return out of the way.

Competing at the World Cup short course meeting here in a heat of the 100m individual medley, an event so unfamiliar to him that he had not actually taken part in one since he was 12, Thorpe qualified for tonight’s final without too much problem.

He was well beaten by the race favourite, Colombian Omar Pinzon, but after watching him ease through the gears in the multi-stroke event, seasoned Thorpe observers were suitably impressed by the opening salvo of his comeback as he clocked 56.74secs to qualify sixth fastest for the final.

Even Thorpe, though, had to concede that since it was so long since he had swum this short course medley he had no idea whether that represented a good time or not. The whole point of the exercise was to familiarise himself again with the competitive arena.

In low-key surroundings, watched by a crowd not much larger than the huddle of hundred or so competitors at poolside and made up mainly of local schoolchildren, Thorpe’s morning entrance at the start of his historic comeback earned little more fanfare than a few schoolgirl screams.

 “There wasn’t a chance I wouldn’t be nervous but once I walked out there, I was a little bit better. I didn’t vomit or anything like that,” smiled Thorpe.

The race, he admitted, went by in a blur. “I can’t remember the race at all. I remember starting and touching the wall. So I think there’s probably a lot of things I can do better in the final.

“But I’m happy. I’m really happy to get the first one out of the way. Now I’m able to focus on improving my swimming, rather than getting my first race back.”

Pinzon, a 22-year-old US-based swimmer from Bogota, evidently quite enjoyed his moment in the sun, having been the first man to beat the great Thorpedo on his comeback, and by almost a second. “When he retired, I was just starting to get into swimming seriously. I’m excited.”

Watch the Australian make his highly anticipated comeback alongside fellow Aussie Libby Trickett at the Fina World Cup event in Singapore on Nov 4 and 5 on Telegraph Sport's live stream, in association with partners GBsport.tv. (UK users)