Editing Ian Thorpe (section)

===1998 Commonwealth Games===
{{MedalTableTop|name=no|header=[[Swimming at the 1998 Commonwealth Games|1998 Commonwealth Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | 200 m freestyle | 1:46.70}}
{{MedalGold | 400 m freestyle | 3:44.35}}
{{MedalGold | 4×100 m freestyle | 3:17.83}}
{{MedalGold | 4×200 m freestyle | 7:11.86 (WR)}}
{{MedalBottom}}
Thorpe's next competition was in March at the Australian Championships in Melbourne, which were selection trials for the [[1998 Commonwealth Games]] in Malaysia. Thorpe's improvement continued when he defeated Klim in the 200&nbsp;m freestyle in 1&nbsp;min 47.24&nbsp;s, faster than Klim's winning time at the World Championship two months earlier.<ref>Hunter, p. 111.</ref> Thorpe's time was a [[List of Commonwealth records in swimming|Commonwealth record]]<ref>{{cite journal|first=Paul|last=Quinlan|title="Thorpedo" Ian Thorpe in record form|url=http://www.swimnews.com/Magazine/1998/maymag98/aussitrials.shtml|journal=Swim News Magazine|date=May 1998|access-date=14 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112337/http://www.swimnews.com/Magazine/1998/maymag98/aussitrials.shtml|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and with it, he secured his first national title. He then claimed the 400&nbsp;m freestyle title from Hackett and clocked 50.36&nbsp;s in the 100&nbsp;m freestyle. His time earned silver in his first 100&nbsp;m race at the national level, gaining him Commonwealth selection in three individual events.<ref>Hunter, pp. 110–113.</ref>

Thorpe's rise continued when the Australians arrived in [[Kuala Lumpur]] during September for the Commonwealth Games. Thorpe's first event was the 200&nbsp;m freestyle, where he led throughout to record a time just one hundredth of a second outside [[Giorgio Lamberti]]'s world record.<ref name=h122>Hunter, p. 122.</ref> He then combined with Klim, Kowalski and [[Matthew Dunn (swimmer)|Matt Dunn]] in the 4&nbsp;×&nbsp;200&nbsp;m freestyle relay to break the world record of the [[Unified Team at the Olympics|Unified Team]] set in [[Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|1992]] by 0.09&nbsp;s.<ref>{{cite news|title=1998 Commonwealth Games|url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/636.asp|work=[[Swimming World]]|date=25 September 1998|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930153903/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/636.asp|archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Thorpe's run ended when a personal best of 50.21&nbsp;s in the 100&nbsp;m freestyle was only sufficient for fourth place, but he returned to victory with the 4&nbsp;×&nbsp;100&nbsp;m freestyle relay team.<ref name=h122/> He claimed a fourth gold in the 400&nbsp;m freestyle, setting another personal best, just 0.55&nbsp;s slower than Kieren Perkins' 1994 mark.<ref name="andrews"/><ref name="abc career"/><ref>{{cite news|title=1998 Commonwealth Games: Day 4|url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/637.asp|work=Swimming World|date=26 September 1998|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154846/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/637.asp|archive-date=30 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Hunter, pp. 121–123.</ref><ref name="s21"/>

Thorpe left school at the end of the year after completing [[Year Ten|Year 10]]. His decision caused concerns that concentrating on swimming alone could lead to burn out.<ref name=small/> Thorpe disagreed, pointing to his informal search for knowledge, stating that "Swimming is a small part of my life".<ref name="small"/> His impact in the swimming community was acknowledged when he became the youngest male swimmer to be named as the [[List of Swimming World Swimmers of the Year|''Swimming World'' Swimmer of the Year]].<ref name="small">Hunter, pp. 130–133.</ref>