Australia's five-time gold medallist Ian Thorpe encouraged by the performance of young swimmers in Rio.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ian Thorpe, Five-time Olympic Gold Medallist, Australia:

(on Michael Phelps retiring)

"Well, it's not a loss. He will still be involved in the sport and his record will remain and we will be comparing people to Michael Phelps a generation - if not generations - to come. It will be very difficult to replace the void of an athlete that is once in a generation. But with some of the personalities and some of the results that we have had, the interest in our sport and where the medals are coming from, I think that interest in swimming will continue [...] I don't think anyone will replace him but there are people who are ready to step up."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ian Thorpe, Five-time Olympic Gold Medallist, Australia:

(on Joseph Schooling beating Phelps)

"This was one of those moments in sport that happened rarely…that as a young child that looks up to someone that inspires them and they aspire to be, I saw the photo of Michael Phelps with Joseph Schooling in 2008. Eight years later he not had the chance to race against his hero, it happens to so few people, that he also was able to create what is the slimmest chance to be able to beat that hero."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ian Thorpe, Five-time Olympic Gold Medallist, Australia:

(on Australia's performance in the pool)

"Australia expected to do better at these Olympic Games than what we have. We had eight of the world leading times coming into the Olympics and US had six of those. We won three gold medals…so depending on if you say it was half glass full or half glass empty, it is either three times what we have won in London or five gold's short of some people expected us to do."