Nelms is known as the "horse whisperer" of swimming and has unique ideas about stroke, pool posture and the use of rhythm and energy. The revelation exposes claims by the Thorpe camp that he had been trained by respected US coach Dave Salo since he landed in Los Angeles three months ago as rubbish.
"I have a working relationship with Ian that I have had since 2003, with both he and Tracey Menzies," Nelms told the Herald yesterday. "I am not a coach. Tracey Menzies is Ian's coach. A very small part of what I do has to do with elite sport. I have a small number of elite athletes as clients. What I do is offer advice and he takes advice. I have been asked for advice by both of them and we have been exchanging information on an ongoing regular basis since early in summer."
Thorpe's abrupt split with Salo remains a mystery. Salo has coached the likes of Mark Spitz and Lenny Krayzelburg and is a highly respected figure in the US swimming world. Salo continued to talk to the media through the months of August and September without mentioning Thorpe was no longer working with him.
Thorpe likewise failed to refer to it in a television interview he called to draw attention to his intensive training and renewed commitment in Los Angeles. His Australian coaches have also made no mention of Salo, with head coach Alan Thompson reporting on Thorpe's progress after a visit to Los Angeles in August.
Salo, who last week called the split "amicable", said on Monday: "Ian was thinking about taking up with Milt Nelms at the Janet Evans Invitational," referring to an event held this year in California on July 13-16. "That's the last time I spoke to him - I haven't seen him since."
Salo, appointed head coach at University of Southern California this summer, said Thorpe's entire period of training ran three weeks, contradicting reports throughout the period from the Thorpe camp and the News Ltd media and a Foxtel television interview Thorpe gave in August.
Members of the USC swimming squad, meanwhile, say Thorpe never showed for a single session. The Thorpe camp appears to be engaged in spinning a steady stream of misinformation about his stay in Los Angeles, his swimming itinerary and future in the sport.
Most recently, Thompson, in discussing Thorpe's USC departure, had said the Olympic champion was training in private school pools in the Valley and Pasadena areas and moving about to escape attention.
But this was dismissed by local coaches. "It's such a small world up here that I would've heard about that," Marathon High School coach and former Olympian Gary Anderson said. "It's too hard to believe and kids talk. One of my kids could go on a date and everyone would know about it the next day."
Thorpe has maintained he left Australia to escape the media. Most recently, the Thorpe camp has explained his break with USC as the result of the media.
But USC, an elite private school, is thickly manned by security guards. All visitors must pass through a lobby and submit ID to staff at the entrance.
New York-based sports psychologist Richard Lustberg believes Thorpe's behaviour reflects deep conflict as he mulls retirement yet strives to maintain the image of an athlete heading for Beijing in 2008.
"Part of him wants anonymity and part of him wants adulation. Part of him would like to disappear," Lustberg said. "These guys are objectified. Yes, he's hypocritical but he should not be judged."
Evan Morgenstein, a top US swimming publicist who met Thorpe in Athens, believes Thorpe can make a comeback.
"His God-given gifts and history of outranking are enough to ensure he can swing back into shape in two months. He simply is one of the five great swimmers of all time, by any measure," he said.
"It's awfully hard to see things through the prism of an athlete like Ian Thorpe because as just lay people, we don't live lives like Ian does. He's dined with kings and princes and he's been at the pinnacle of sports. It's unfair of people to judge Ian Thorpe. They need to back off."
Thorpe's Australian coaches have maintained his escape to Los Angeles was to focus on swimming and a training program divided between water and land. Following reports of his gaining weight, Thorpe arranged for press photographs to be taken of his jogging near his home in a white lycra T-shirt. He appeared bulky and uncomfortable.
Most recently, Thompson, in discussing Thorpe's USC departure, had said the Olympic champion was training in private school pools in the Valley and Pasadena areas and moving about to escape attention.
But this was dismissed by local coaches. "It's such a small world up here that I would've heard about that," Marathon High School coach and former Olympian Gary Anderson said. "It's too hard to believe and kids talk. One of my kids could go on a date and everyone would know about it the next day."
Thorpe has maintained he left Australia to escape the media. Most recently, the Thorpe camp has explained his break with USC as the result of the media.
But USC, an elite private school, is thickly manned by security guards. All visitors must pass through a lobby and submit ID to staff at the entrance.
New York-based sports psychologist Richard Lustberg believes Thorpe's behaviour reflects deep conflict as he mulls retirement yet strives to maintain the image of an athlete heading for Beijing in 2008.
"Part of him wants anonymity and part of him wants adulation. Part of him would like to disappear," Lustberg said. "These guys are objectified. Yes, he's hypocritical but he should not be judged."
Evan Morgenstein, a top US swimming publicist who met Thorpe in Athens, believes Thorpe can make a comeback.
"His God-given gifts and history of outranking are enough to ensure he can swing back into shape in two months. He simply is one of the five great swimmers of all time, by any measure," he said.
"It's awfully hard to see things through the prism of an athlete like Ian Thorpe because as just lay people, we don't live lives like Ian does. He's dined with kings and princes and he's been at the pinnacle of sports. It's unfair of people to judge Ian Thorpe. They need to back off."