He doesn't believe it has set the Olympic silver medallist back any time as he continues to make his return from shoulder surgery.

Fellow Aussie Cameron McEvoy swam a personal best time in the 100-metre freestyle event at the Perth Aquatic Super Series which turned out to be almost a body length in front of the Port Macquarie product.

"Our intention was never to win, it was more about race practice against good, quality competition," Falvey said.

"And he definitely got that. As an athlete you always want to win, but Maggie knows what he has to do."

Magnussen recorded a time of 49.34 seconds, just 0.01 seconds quicker than he swam at the Victorian State Championships two weeks ago.

Falvey was encouraged by Magnussen's performance - which was only his second in the last nine months.

"The one thing that impressed me most was his execution ... his effort and intensity was really well done," he said.

Magnussen now has four weeks to prepare for the NSW State Open championships at Sydney Olympic Park.

"The next time he'll be in the pool will be the state championships on March 4 so we'll continue to get his speed and power up," Falvey said.

"Ideally we'd like him to go a little bit faster, but reality dictates where we are and we can't forget that he did lose four months throughout 2015."

Magnussen remains on track, reaching the same times he was recording prior to last year's state championships.

"He's right on them and that's even with the time he spent out of the pool," Falvey said.

"He's extremely motivated coming back from Perth and he knows he needs work. We're still positive and excited about what he can do because one thing about Maggie is that he's an extremely motivated man and he's a competitor.

"Cameron now has a target on his back."