Five-time Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe has reportedly been admitted to rehab in a bid to overcome depression.

The 31-year-old is said to have been approached by police after he was spotted looking "disoriented" standing near a car in Panania.

Reports have claimed that the sportsman, who has admitted to have suffered from depression in the past, was taken by police to Bankstown hospital.

"He is in rehab for depression," Thorpe's manager James Erskine told the Australian AP. "The owner of the car basically called the police and the police came.

"They realised it was Ian Thorpe. They realised he was disoriented. He hadn't had a drink. He had zero alcohol in him."

Thorpe retired in 2006, but in his comeback five years' later, he failed to make the Australian team for the London 2012 Olympic Games.