Australian swimming star Ian Thorpe is reportedly recuperating in an unassuming chalet in a Swiss village, where he moved after his failed bid to make the Australian swim team for the London Olympics.
A terracotta-coloured building with a spectacular view in the terraced village of Ronco Sopra Ascona, in southern Switzerland, is the 'hideaway bolthole' of the champion swimmer that locals adore but have dubbed 'the invisible man' for his very private life he leads in their 13th Century medieval hamlet.
According to News.com.au, Thorpe's mother said that her son came to the village to find solace living alone and anonymously among protective villagers accustomed to those seeking escape, adding that he tends to a vegetable garden for himself and his neighbours, making salads and even his own jam from ingredients he grows.
The report mentioned that the local mayor is so confident that Thorpe will make the village his permanent base that he took the unusual step of submitting plans to his own council for construction of a home complete with lap pool fit for the former champion.
The report further said that Thorpe made an instant impression as a good looking young man with his 1.95m tall frame and beaming smile, who kept to himself but stood out in what is a village of mostly elderly residents.
