James Magnussen has added a second gold medal to his Commonwealth Games kit bag by winning the blockbuster 100m freestyle swim and securing a 1-2-3 finish for Australia in the event.
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It was a superb swim from Magnussen who mowed down teammate Cameron McEvoy in the last 30m after turning in third position.
Magnussen said his low-key approach to the biggest swim of the meet worked in his favour.
“It’s a different approach. I like to come out and be honest and natural but I played it low key and it worked for me,” he told Channel Ten’s Mark Howard after the swim.
“As athletes we are addicted to the job and the joy of winning and doing it with mates. I chase that feeling everyday in training.
“For me it was a two man race and I sat next to Cam and switched it up a gear when I needed to.”
Magnussen was beaming after the race and all three Australian placegetters revelled in the fact Australia took out the trifecta which incidentally lifted our medal tally above 50 medals for the Glasgow Games.
“I seem to have a bit of a habit of attracting attention but I wanted to have fun tonight,” Magnussen said.
His winning time of 48.11 wasn’t a fast time but all three Australians said the times were secondary to the result and medal placings.
Magnussen still has several events in this meet and told Channel Ten there’ll be plenty of time for celebrating later on.
“It’ll be a while before I get another beverage … cheers and thanks to everyone at home.”
The win also answered a challenge issued by swimming great Ian Thorpe who had earlier claimed Magnussen must win to justify his position as Australia’s number one swimmer.
For the record, Tommaso D'Orsogna completed the Aussie trifecta as the three teammates high-fived and embraced at the medal ceremony which took place at 5am local time.
