A wombat earns the nickname, Ian Thorpe, after swimming for nearly 40 minutes before being rescued by a woman in a kayak from Yerrabi Pond in Canberra's north after a thunderstorm.

A wombat has earned the nickname Ian Thorpe after swimming for nearly 40 minutes before being rescued from a Canberra pond after a thunderstorm.

The wombat was rescued from Yerrabi Pond in Canberra’s north by a woman in a kayak on Monday evening