Champion swimmer Ian Thorpe failed to qualify for both the 100m freestyle final - his specialty event - and the 100m medley final at the FINA World Cup short course meet in Beijing.
Australia's greatest Olympian finished fifth in his heat for the 100m freestyle in 50.21 seconds - a time that was only 15th fastest overall in the modest field.
In contrast, fellow Australian Kyle Richardson (48.11) was fastest qualifier for Tuesday night's final.
Thorpe then contested the heats of the 100m individual medley, recording the time of 56.70 seconds to miss the final by just two hundreths of a second.
The event was expected to provide a more accurate gauge of Thorpe's progress ahead of the London Olympic trials in March.
