Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe finished fifth in the 200-meter freestyle at the Victorian state championships yesterday, his best result since coming out of a five-year retirement in a bid to swim at the London Games.

The 29-year-old Australian improved marginally on his morning heat time, finishing in 1 minute, 50.79 seconds, about 2.5 seconds behind winner Jarrod Killey. Thorpe's old world record in the distance and his personal best was 1:44.06 set in 2001, a mark which stood for nearly six years.

On Friday, Thorpe missed the 100-meter freestyle final after finishing with the 13th-best time in the heats.

Thorpe retired in November 2006 and announced a comeback nearly a year ago hoping to qualify for the Australian Olympic team, either individually or as a member of the 4x200-meter relay team. The Australian trials are in late March in Adelaide.

"This is the best I can swim at this stage, there's a lot I have to improve upon now," Thorpe said yesterday. "Technique-wise I wasn't very good tonight, I was a little bit rushed."