26 Facts About James Magnussen

James Magnussen was born on 11 April 1991 and is a retired Australian swimmer and Olympic medallist.

James Magnussen was the 2011 and 2013 100-metre freestyle world champion, and holds the record for the fifth fastest swim in history in the 100-metre freestyle, with a time of 47.10, which until 2016 stood as the fastest swim in textile swimwear material.

James Magnussen has won a total of 16 medals in major international competition, eight gold, five silver and three bronze, spanning the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

At the 2010 Australian Swimming Championships, Magnussen came third in the 100-metre freestyle, with a time of 49.43, thus qualifying for the national team.

James Magnussen earned a silver medal, with Eamon Sullivan, Kyle Richardson, and Cameron Prosser in a time of 3:14.30, finishing behind the United States.

Shortly after the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, James Magnussen competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships, James Magnussen won a total of three medals, two golds and one silver.

Four days later, James Magnussen became the first Australian man to win the 100-metre freestyle at a World Championships, with a time of 47.63 seconds.

At the first 50 in the 100-metre freestyle, James Magnussen was in fifth place in 22.94, but came back fastest in 24.69 for the win.

Swimming the freestyle leg, James Magnussen had a split of 47.00, by far the fastest in the field and was almost enough to overtake the gold winning Americans for 1st place.

At the first 50, James Magnussen had a swift split of 22.68, and came back in 24.42.

James Magnussen has stated he does plan on targeting Cesar Cielo's world record of 46.91 in the 100-metre freestyle.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, James Magnussen won two medals, one silver and one bronze.

James Magnussen was accused of having a "big head" during the games, with claims that "he did not feel the need to attend team meetings and that he did not want to sit poolside to watch other Australian swimmers compete".

Swimming the lead-off, James Magnussen recorded a split of 48.00, finishing behind American Nathan Adrian for the second-best opening leg.

James Magnussen competed in the 50 m freestyle event, but was unable to make the final, finishing ninth in the semifinals.

James Magnussen finished off the competition by anchoring Australia's 4x100-metre medley relay, with them going on to win the silver medal, only.

Only four days after World Championships, James Magnussen was back in the pool for the first stop on the short course Fina World Cup.

At the 2014 Australian Championships, James Magnussen was favorite to win after posting 6 times under 48 seconds.

James Magnussen blamed his loss on chasing the world record instead of sticking to his race plan.

James Magnussen won two medals for relay events and bronze in the 50 metre freestyle.

In 2018, James Magnussen was part of the Australian team that won gold in the men's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, held in the Gold Coast.

In February 2024, James Magnussen announced that he would be coming out of retirement to take part in the Enhanced Games.

James Magnussen will be paid $1 million if he breaks the men's 50m freestyle record, but any record will not be official due to the lack of drug testing.

In 2020, it was announced James Magnussen would be participating the Seven Network's reality program SAS Australia.

In 2023, it was announced James Magnussen would be participating the twentieth series of Dancing with the Stars.