| Rank | Event | Year | Location | Result |
| World Championships | ||||
| 1 | 100m Freestyle | 2011 | Shanghai, CHN | 47.63 |
| 1 | 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay | 2011 | Shanghai, CHN | 3:11.00 |
| 2 | 4 x 100m Medley Relay | 2011 | Shanghai, CHN | 3:32.26 |
| Pan Pacific Championships | ||||
| 2 | 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay | 2010 | Irvine, CA, USA | 3:14.30 |
| World Championships Short Course | ||||
| 5 | 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay | 2010 | Dubai, UAE | 3:06.18 |
Nickname
Maggie, The Missile (abc.net.au, 26 Jul 2011; Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010)
Hobbies
Playing rugby league, bodyboarding. (Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010)
Education
Sports Management - Australian College of Physical Education, Sydney, NSW, AUS
Club name
Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, Sydney, NSW, AUS
Coach
Brant Best (AUS) from 2010 (swimnews.com, 06 Feb 2012)
Debut
2010 for Australia, Pan Pacific Championships (Irvine, CA) (Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010)
Additional information
Start of sporting career
He learned to swim at age three. He took up competitive swimming at age 11. (Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010; olympics.com.au, 24 Mar 2012)
Reason for taking up this sport
He lived near the beach so his parents wanted him to learn how to swim for safety reasons. (olympics.com.au, 24 Mar 2012)
Ambitions
He hopes to pursue a career in sports management. (Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010)
Hero
Australian swimmer Michael Klim. (Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010)
Most influential person in career
His friends and parents. (Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010)
Sporting philosophy / motto
"There is nothing to it but to do it." (Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010)
Awards
He was named the 2011 Swimmer of the Year by Swimming Australia. He was also named the Swimmers' Swimmer of the Year and the People's Choice Award winner. (portnews.com.au, 05 Dec 2011)
At the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai he became the first Australian man to win the 100m freestyle world title. (abc.net.au, 26 Jul 2011)
General
LONDON EXPECTATIONS
His opening leg of the 4x100m men's relay at the 2011 World Championships was clocked at 47.49s - the fastest time ever set by a swimmer wearing a textile suit, eclipsing Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband's Sydney 2000 Olympic time of 47.84s. The performance helped Australia to victory over the more fancied US, French and Russian teams and drew praise from Michael Phelps, who stated Magnussen would lead an 'exciting' new era in swimming. Australian head coach Leigh Nugent likened his style to that of Ian Thorpe, where he "hasn't got a lot of blistering speed but he can just maintain his speed". When he doubled up with a win in the 100m freestyle, he was marked as the man to beat heading into London 2012. "To go to the Olympics as the favourite, it's going to be huge for me in Australia in terms of the media attention I get. But that's something I think I can deal with and I got a huge amount of confidence out of that race." (theage.com.au, 26 Jul 2011; abc.net.au, 26 Jul 2011)
TATTOO
He had an alpha symbol tattooed on his left forearm after returning home from the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai. "I got it with my housemate, Joe Carty, just as a reminder that now we are on the other side of those world championships, and life is a little bit easier. It's just a reminder of what it was like having left home at 18 and come down to the big smoke and faced a few adversities in terms of living and trying to juggle uni and swimming and having a couple of break-ins. It's just to remember life wasn't always so easy." (smh.com.au, 13 Mar 2012; theaustralian.com.au, 20 Mar 2012)
