Ian Thorpe may skip next year's world championships in order to stay focused for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Australian's coach Tracey Menzies said on Friday.

The 22-year-old Thorpe is a five-times Olympic champion, including victories in his pet event, the 400 metres freestyle, in the 2000 Sydney Games and in Athens earlier this year.

The proposed break would mean that Thorpe misses his chance to win a fourth consecutive 400 freestyle world title in Montreal next July.

"I know some people have said that if he does miss (a year) then he's not racing," Menzies was quoted as saying in Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper.

"But it's really only six months of the racing calendar that he would miss if he doesn't compete at the world championships.

"Nothing is finalised as yet. At the moment it's just an idea that we are working through."

Under the plan, Thorpe would train throughout his break and return to competition for the Australian trials late next year ahead of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

"The trials (for Montreal) are in March and it doesn't leave a lot of time," Menzies said.

"I don't want to push him in a direction where he feels pressured that he's not ready.

"If things are too rushed, then we won't (compete next year), and if things are looking good, then we'll trial.

"The bigger picture is the four-year plan. That is what's important to him."