SWIMMING: Rarely have not one but two silver linings so completely failed to clear the cloud. James Magnussen was devastated after losing the blue-ribbon 100m freestyle final to American Nathan Adrian by one one-hundredth of a second, barely the blink of an eye.

And so, it is fair to suggest, was every other athlete and official inside and outside the swimming team, all of them desperately hoping  their marquee man would electrify a campaign that has so far yielded only one gold medal and enough disappointments for the media to be already asking pessimistic questions.

The emotions were a little more mixed an hour later when Bronte Barratt, Melanie Schlanger, Kylie Palmer and Alicia Coutts claimed silver behind the hot favourites USA in the 200m freestyle relay, a race they were not expected to win. It was another case of so near yet so far but one of which they were entitled to be proud, especially Coutts who earned her fourth medal of the Games.

The two silvery swims came at the end of a day that saw Team Great Britain creep into the lead of the so-called Battle of the Ashes after winning two gold medals in rowing and cycling on day 5. They also claimed a silver in the pool to go to two gold, three silver and four bronzes, a total of nine medals, to Australia’s single gold, six silvers and two bronze, also nine altogether – but one fewer gold.

Magnussen, 20, competing at his first Olympics, has endured a nightmare so far, even though he proved himself to be still the second fastest swimmer on the planet after winning the world championship last year.

Looking shattered as he left the pool, and struggling to control his emotions, he admitted he had come to the Games feeling bullet-proof. But as his coach, Brant Best had told him after the bungled relay on day one, “it’s a pretty tough time to learn you’re human.”

Magnussen swam fast, 47.53, which was better than the 47.63 he did in Shanghai to win the world title and repeated in the semi-final to qualify fastest for the shot at gold. It was certainly much better than the 48.03 shocker in the first leg of the relay, when Adrian left him behind for the first time.

The American did it again, just, when it counted most but wouldn’t have got near the 47.10 Magnussen poured on at the Australian championships earlier in the year.

“That hurt,” he said. “I did my best and was not quite good enough. To lose by that amount stinks.

“I’ve had a lot of great support the last few days from everyone back in Australia.

“It’s been a tough Olympics but they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger so hopefully I’ll come out of this a better swimmer but most of all a better person.”

Some observers thought Magnussen might have hit the wall without his fingers fully extended but he said he thought he got a good touch - so much so that it might have made the margin more flattering than it might have been.

“When you lose by that much you look back and think what could I have done better, but I have no regrets.

“It all seems like a blur – so much going on in your mind going into it. My nose and eyes were pretty bloodshot and I haven’t had a great deal of sleep.

“I did my best. It wasn’t as quick as the trials but its a different ball game here.

“Having had such a successful young career I felt pretty much bullet-proof coming into this Olympics. It’s very humbling. I’ve got a lot more respect for guys like Michael Phelps who come to the Olympics and keep backing up under pressure.

“It’s just a reality check. I really tried to pick myself up after those first couple of days and gave it everything for myself and the people of Australia.

“It’s a hard thing for me because I felt the pressure was off a bit. I’ve always been sick or something else has gone wrong but this was the perfect preparation.

“I was so confident I was going to swim really fast but I put too much pressure on myself.”

Magnussen still has two shots at the elusive gold, in the 50m freestyle and the medley relay.

Coutts, who played a starring role in the 100m freestyle relay, Australia’s only gold medal, revealed afterwards that she hadn’t expected to be a part of the 200 foursome.

“I had no idea I was doing the relay and hadn’t planned for it. I got a call about noon. I was having a massage,” she said.

“I was pretty nervous because I don’t do too many 200m freestyles but I just wanted to do the best I could and hopefully make the girls and everyone else proud.”

Ron Reed
Olympics.com.au