PORT Macquarie swim star James Magnussen was back in his home pool on Sunday as his quest for glory at the World Aquatics Championships in Russia continued.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Magnussen hit the water for a solid two-hour session on his usual day off, as he approached another conditioning block ahead of the August event.
Coach Lachlan Falvey strode up and down the pool deck, constantly watching a pair of stop watches around his neck while putting Magnussen through his paces.
They periodically checked Magnussen's pulse in breaks between a multitude of laps.
Falvey also counted Magnussen's stroke rate. The Missile's other coach, Lachlan's brother Mitch Falvey, is also due to come back to town as they follow Magnussen's progress.
Ahead of the championships in Russia is the BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series in Perth at the end of January. April's World Championship trials aren't far away either.
Training will ramp up further, but yesterday's session was still a tough one for Magnussen.
"Solid stuff for a Sunday," Magnussen said as he completed his post workout stretches.
The trio has a good time to work from. Magnussen swam a 48.7 second 100 metre freestyle at the recent Metropolitan Championships in Sydney.
"It's a good starting point," Falvey said. "[Cameron] McEvoy swam 49.1 at the Queensland State Championships."
Magnussen is noticing the times of his rivals, but not paying too much attention to them.
"You can't really control what the other guys are doing," Falvey said.
Variety is the buzz word around the Magnussen camp at the moment as the Falveys move to ensure he also enjoys the hard slog.
Magnussen has starting swimming the 50 metre butterfly again. It's helping his training and mental space.
"For sanity more than anything," Magnussen said.
The Magnussen-Falvey partnership is still in its infancy they've only been working together about 12 weeks but the Missile said the relationship was progressing well.
"It's really good. I'm happy with my decisions and with my set up," he said.
Magnussen seems to have put a recurring back injury behind him and the Falveys have him working hard, in and out of the pool. He completes seven pool sessions, three in the gym and two pilates workouts every week.
Christmas and Boxing Day are in Kendall this year, and Falvey said Sunday's session was necessary ahead of a couple of free days.
"He's got two days off. He can have a rest then," he said.
Magnussen, who chatted with local swimmers and posed for photographs with youngsters, was pleased to be back on home turf.
"It's always good to be back," he said. "No matter how long you've been away, it always feels like home."
He planned to get his board and hit the beach if the conditions were right.