JAMES Magnussen has settled on a level of consistency, but is still searching for top speed as he continues his return from shoulder surgery.
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After back-to-back successes in Monaco and Barcelona, Magnussen couldn’t back it up in Canet last week when he slipped to third behind rival Cameron McEvoy and Frenchman Mehdy Metella.
Metella (48.62) used superior closing speed to touch the wall first ahead of McEvoy (48.96) and Magnussen (48.99).
The Missile then headed to the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome on June 25 where he again finished in third spot although he did show a slight improvement in time (48.77).
Coach Lachy Falvey said results weren’t the main focus of the five-meet tour of Europe which wraps up in Chartres this weekend with the French Open.
Instead, it was about continuing preparations for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast next April.
“There hasn’t been a massive jump in James’ times at the moment, but everyone is swimming around in the same ball park,” Falvey said.
“There was only about 0.16 of a second between first and fourth in Sette Colli.”
In positive news, Magnussen clocked his fastest time in three years (21.98) over 50 metres which Falvey was most satisfied with.
“It’s all about race experience for us over there with these meets,” Falvey said.
“He swam a normal time in his heat swim of 48.7 and the final was his 20th race in three weeks.”
Falvey said Magnussen’s final race at Sette Colli was the 100-metre freestyle which was a slight change to his normal program.
There hasn’t been a massive jump in James’ times at the moment, but everyone is swimming around in the same ball park.
- James Magnussen's coach Lachy Falvey
“At Sette Colli his 100 was the last race on the program so he had already swum the 50 and 200,” he said.
“He feels like he has got all the ingredients to get that race time so it’s just a matter of putting it all together on the one day.”
There are no real boundaries for times with Magnussen – the main focus is on swimming consistently.
“It would be nice to have that really quick time,” Falvey said.
“But he’s had no issues with the shoulder so we’re confident he’s still on track for the Comm Games which is the goal.”
Following the French Open, Magnussen will have a break for a week or two before he returns back into training with an eye on the FINA World Cup swim meets in September.
While Magnussen is training, some of his Australian teammates will head to Budapest for the world championships.
However, Falvey still maintained they had made the right decision not to compete there.
“We didn’t want to rush anything, so we’re happy with where James is at,” he said.
“In a perfect world where he wasn’t returning from a shoulder injury the world championships would have been on the radar, but that’s not the case.”
He’s had no issues with the shoulder so we’re confident he’s still on track for the Comm Games which is the goal.
- Lachy Falvey
The 26-year-old will instead return to the pool domestically before the short course championships in Doha and Qatar.
The Commonwealth Games trials will then be held in February on the Gold Coast.
