By STEVE LARKIN FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS and ANDREW PRENTICE, SPORTS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA
James Magnussen believes his next round of performance enhancing drugs will wind back the clock a dozen years and put him within touching distance of a world record.
The former Aussie Olympic swimmer will start taking drugs again within weeks ahead of the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas in May.
And Magnussen, the first athlete in the world to commit to Enhanced Games, says his next enhancements combined with rigorous training will have a far different effect than his first round had.
Magnussen has dropped almost 20 kilograms of muscle mass which he put on during his initial enhancement protocol last year.
‘I will probably be doing lower dosages of some enhancements and probably changing some enhancements altogether,’ Magnussen said.
‘I will have much more of a focus on my anaerobic energy system rather than my pure strength and power output.
Former Aussie Olympic swimmer James Magnussen believes his next round of performance enhancing drugs will put him within touching distance of a world record
Magnussen, 34, will start taking performance enhancing drugs again within weeks ahead of the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas in May
‘The combination of those two things will create a very different outcome at the end of it.’
Magnussen, 34, is temporarily living at a five-star resort in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates – the site of Enhanced Games’ training camp – until the multi-sport event with no drug testing in Las Vegas from May 21-24.
‘It’s like any other staging camp but 10 times better,’ he said.
‘I’m staying in a five-star resort. I have got amazing food, all my facilities are walking distance, I have got the best coaches, the best staff, the best facilities.
‘No other Australian swimmer has been on a training camp like this.
‘I think that is actually one of the things that other athletes are going to sit back and feel a sense of envy or jealousy.
‘When they see what is being provided for us as Enhanced athletes, that none of these other athletes would even dream of having access to.’
The 2012 Olympic 100m freestyle silver medallist and three-time world championship gold medallist is among 42 athletes currently signed for Enhanced Games, which will feature swimming, track and field and weightlifting.
Enhanced Games organisers will pay $US250,000 ($A358,000) to race winners, and a $US1 million ($A1.4 million) bonus for anyone who breaks a world record
And the lead-up to the first Enhanced Games has far exceeded anticipation ahead of his two Olympics or world championships.
‘Way more exciting,’ Magnussen said.
‘Because it’s the first, we are pioneers. It’s the first of its kind. There are 5000 Olympians every four years, there is only one first Enhanced athlete.
‘This will be the most watched swimming event in history, certainly.’
Magnussen will race the 50m freestyle in Las Vegas and has added the 100m freestyle, his pet event in his previous swimming career that ended after the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
‘My first goal is to swim faster than I ever have before,’ he said.
Magnussen’s 100m personal best was 47.10 seconds, set as a 22-year-old in March 2012 at selection trials for that year’s London Olympics.
‘I want to beat that,’ he said.
Magnussen has labelled Enhanced Games athletes ‘pioneers’ – and believes other swim stars are envious of the path he has taken
‘I think that is a pretty big storyline in itself for a 35-year-old to swim a lifetime best.
‘And if or when I beat that time, I’m thereabouts in striking distance of that world record.
‘I would say that 100 freestyle world record would probably be the hardest world record in the pool now, based off what happened at the Paris Olympics, so I am realistic about that.
‘But I think if I am swimming at my lifetime best: A, I am a really good chance of winning the race and, B, I’m giving myself the best chance of breaking that record.’
China’s Pan Zhanle set a 100m freestyle world record of 46.40 at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Magnussen, who turns 35 in April, was sharing lessons he and Enhanced Games’ head swim coach – Australian Brett Hawke – learnt from his initial enhancement regime with other athletes.
‘I have had a lot more time to prepare than I did for the first round of competing and enhancing,’ he said.
‘I am coming in a lot fitter and a lot lighter, a lot more focus on that anaerobic energy system and probably with a lot more knowledge about what is about to happen this time than I did last time.
In May of 2025, Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) condemned the concept of the Enhanced Games with the agency stating it is ‘dangerous, unethical and damaging to sport’ (stock image)
‘Brett and I learnt what worked and what didn’t work; how these substances respond for a swimmer, for their workload, for their recovery, the impact on strength, power, aerobic endurance – all those things.
‘They are learnings for everyone.
‘For the best interest of the Games, I want all athletes swimming fast, running fast, lifting heavy. I am not going to gatekeep any secrets and use them as an advantage.’
Enhanced Games will pay $US250,000 ($A358,000) to race winners, and a $US1 million ($A1.4 million) bonus for anyone breaking a world record.
Magnussen sensed envy from fellow swimmers who hadn’t joined Enhanced Games.
‘Big time,’ he said. ‘I think the final nail in the coffin will be when those swimmers are sitting at home in May watching those novelty sized cheques come rolling out with hundreds of thousands of dollars written on them.
‘That is when it will really sink in that they may have missed out on something.’
