Two-time World Champion and 2012 Olympic silver medalist, Australian James Magnussen, was forced to sit on the sidelines at this year’s World Championships, rendering the 24-year-old unable to three-peat his 100m world title. Having nursed a nagging shoulder injury for the better part of this year, Magnussen made the decision to have surgery to resolve the issue, opting out of the World Championships in order to more delicately and methodically prepare for his ultimate goal, a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Historically a polar athlete who tends to come across as overtly cocky to some, simply confident to others, ‘Maggie’ rocked the Australian boat back in November 2014 when he announced his would be replacing his long-time coach, Brant Best, with a relatively unknown brotherly duo of Mitch and Lach Falvey. The decision wasn’t immediately supported by Swimming Australia, but in this exclusive interview with SwimSwam, Magnussen describes how his nation’s support is now behind him in full force, as is he rehabilitates and undertakes a driven, determined journey back to Olympic glory.
Retta: Your move to the Falvey brothers as your coaches heading into Rio – what spurred on that change from longtime coach Brant Best? How is their training regimen/mentality/approach different from what you’re used to? Were you disappointed that Swimming Australia didn’t exactly support the change? How has Swimming Australia been supporting your shoulder injury/recuperation?
Magnussen: “I had enjoyed a great deal of success and a very strong and close personal bond with Brant over many years. It was a very difficult and quite emotional decision for me but I just very strongly felt that I needed a change, a fresh approach and environment in order to get the very best out of myself for the 2016 Rio Olympics and beyond. I felt with Mitch and Lach there were two young coaches, hungry for success and when we started to talk about and explore the opportunity it really felt like the right decision for us all.
Our program works very closely with Jacco Verhaeren and Swimming Australia in all areas now and we are all pursuing the mutual goal of qualifying the for 2016 Olympics and hopefully making a very strong contribution to the Australian Olympic Games swim team. It took some time for us all to work through the new program and plans and these things are not always straight forward but we have built a great team of world-class people and we are all working very hard every day in pursuit of our goals.
Swimming Australia have been very supportive of my shoulder recuperation and I feel very lucky to have been able to be treated by some of the best surgeons, physiotherapists and other staff anywhere in the world.”
Retta: You bounced back after London’s silver (which, by the way, is still a magnificent achievement!) with another world championship title in 2013. Was that any vindication for you? Did that help you get over not earning individual gold in London? Does it leave you even hungrier for 2016 that you were unable to attempt the 3-peat in Kazan?
Magnussen: “I am not sure if vindication is the right word but defending my 100m freestyle world championship in Barcelona was an incredibly rewarding and satisfying achievement for me. I worked very hard for that meet and to get the win against a very strong field felt fantastic. It certainly was a tough blow for me to not have the opportunity to race in Kazan for the 3 peat. The opportunity to create history and achieve something that some of my heroes in the sport were not able to achieve was a significant blow but no doubt this has made me hungrier and even more determined to be at my very best in Rio and give my preparations everything I have.”
Retta: What made you decide to finally get your shoulder “fixed”? Was it simply too painful to swim? I read you’re doing kicking sets; when will you be more fully integrated into your swimming program, ramping up the training, etc.?
Magnussen: “I had been managing my shoulder issue for quite some time and in the end you reach a point where too much of your energy and time is going into managing a problem rather than addressing the problem. It was very painful and had become apparent to me and my coaches that I was also losing range of motion and technical efficiency and I did not want that heading into a preparation for an Olympic Games. It was a tough decision, but I feel absolutely the right one. I am back in the pool completing a good volume of work and good intensity levels. We are working to a detailed plan and schedule and all is on track at this time.”
Retta: I read you believe (and doctors believe, etc.) that you are ahead of the recovery schedule – you believe you’ll be at 100% come Trials/Rio? Will you be targeting both the 50 and 100 for Rio? Your times in 2012 and 2013 were in the 47-high range – what will it take for you to get back there or even better?
Magnussen: “Myself and my support team are very pleased with my progress and we are right on schedule taking it day by day. I certainly believe I will be at 100% fitness for trials and given the strength and depth in Australian swimming you absolutely have to be. You cannot take chances with Olympic qualification and I certainly will not be. At this stage the 100m is my primary focus and most likely the 50m but will take the program as it comes.
With regards to times and that sort of thing I am really not thinking that way and just focused on getting back to my very best and hopefully even better than I have been previously. If I can do that I feel I will be very competitive in any races I compete in.”
Retta: Unable to pursue a 100 world championships title three-peat due to injury, what did you think of the Kazan final? You had pinned McEvoy as your favourite to win the event, yet he was outswum by Ning Zetao; but, the times weren’t completely eye-popping. What does that say about your chances come 2016?
Magnussen: “I did watch the 100m final and my view is certainly that big meets are about winning, about getting the job done and to some extent the times don’t matter too much. It was a competitive race and I did believe going into the meet that Cameron would win it but was not to be. There is no room for error in the 100m freestyle so the racing is always tight. I don’t think that race says too much about 2016 as I know everyone will be working hard to peak at a high level for the Olympics.”
Retta: With McEvoy swimming consistently, Kyle Chalmers on the rise – do you see your primary competition as inside Australian swimming? Or, do you peg your rivals more overseas in France/Asia/United States?
Magnussen: “There is depth and strength across the board in sprint freestyle. Cam, Kyle and others are a challenge within Australia and in an Olympic year you know the US, France, China etc are all going to be strong. With Rio being a home Olympics Brazil will be strong and motivated also.”
Retta: Australia’s failing to make it to the men’s 400m free relay final (same with U.S.) – was this a wake-up call that the world is perhaps getting faster? No team can take anything for granted in prelims? Do you think it would have turned out differently had you been able to swim?
Magnussen: “I was really disappointed for the guys and it was quite difficult to watch. I think it was just one of those things and I certainly look forward to hopefully making a strong contribution to our relays and overall team performance in Rio. As a group we are motivated and looking forwards rather than backwards to that result.”
Retta: Seebohm, Larkin and Bronte Campbell doubling up on wins in Kazan – does this bring motivation to everyone else on the team headed into Rio? That Australia could target the top of the medal count? Or are you focused solely on getting back to form and just what you need to do personally to make your mark?
Magnussen: “It was fantastic to see Emily, Mitch and Bronte achieve their goals and big swims. I thought Larkin in particular was outstanding against a really strong field. It is great and everyone on the team gets a lift from that as we get through our hard training blocks. The whole of the swimming fraternity in Australia is working really hard to be highly competitive at every major meet and I am motivated to contribute in any way I can.”
Retta: Tell us about the Rio Protocol camp. You didn’t swim there, correct? Did you still follow the same wake-up/eating/sleeping regimen as the rest of the team?
Magnussen: “That is correct I did not swim as it was early in my rehab but I participated in all key protocol areas and it was a great learning and data gathering exercise for the whole team, certainly some great outcomes for our Rio preparation.”
Retta: You’re still only 24 years old…is Tokyo 2020 on your future plan? What is on your swimming career bucket list?
Maggnussen: “I am not looking that far ahead right now. Really focused on each day right now and my preparation for Rio. I am excited that we have a home Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast in 2018 so would certainly like to be still racing for that, Beyond that who knows!”