James Magnussen spills on ‘massive’ physique, getting beaten to world record

James Magnussen has spilled details about his “massive” bulked up physique and the brutal moment he was beaten to his world record dream.

James Magnussen says he will tweak his doping and training regime for the Enhanced Games in a bid to win the revolutionary event after he was pipped in his quest to break the 50m freestyle world record.

The Australian swimmer has been the talk of the sporting world after wild images emerged of his massively bulked up physique standing behind the blocks for his world record attempt.

Magnussen, who has been retired for six years, has been taking a concoction of testosterone and peptides, among other substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), to try and break the 50m freestyle world record.

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But the 34-year-old nicknamed ‘the Missile’ watched his dream of winning the USD $1 million prize money go up in smoke after another swimmer beat him to it.

Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev – aided by undisclosed substances and a polyurethane suit not approved for Olympic use – broke the world record at an Enhanced Games competition pool in North Carolina in February.

Gkolomeev swam a time of 20.89 seconds, 0.02sec fastest than the longstanding supersuit world record held by Brazil’s Cesar Cielo since the 2009 world championships.

Watch Gkolomeev breaking the 50m freestyle world record in the video above

A documentary crew, who many believed were only there to witness Magnussen shattering the elusive record, instead captured 31-year-old Gkolomeev’s incredible swim resulting in a $1m windfall, just months after he finished fifth in the 50m final at the Paris Olympics.

But Magnussen will get another chance to claim the $1m payday he so craves at the inaugural Enhanced Games next year.

Enhanced Games founder Aron D’Souza says the million-dollar prize was still on the table at the official Enhanced Games, which will take place from May 21-24 next year at Resorts World Las Vegas, with events in swimming, athletics, and weightlifting.

James Magnussen was seriously jacked. Photo: Enhanced Games.

“Kristian cruises in after eight weeks of protocol. He gets up and bam, breaks the world record in the week that supposed to be about me breaking this world record,” Magnussen told the Hello Sport podcast.

“It was a really weird feeling, it was really mixed emotions.

“I love Kristian, he’s a great guy. He’s had a really tough life, lost both parents. That million dollars for him was him was completely life changing. It was more money that he’d ever made in his entire swimming career.

“So I was happy for him but that was meant to be me doing that. That was a hard moment.”

After three attempts, Magnussen’s best result was 22.73sec — for context his PB set in 2013 is 21.53 seconds.

“It was one the most bizarre swimming races I’ve ever done,” he said.

“I’m standing up on the blocks in an empty stadium. It’s not just ‘let’s try do a quick 50m’. I don’t feel great but let’s try swim the fastest lap in history, it’s pretty weird.”

James Magnussen looks unrecognizable after preparing for the Enhanced Games. Contests are encouraged to use performance-enhancing drugs to break world records. If they break a record, they get $1 million. pic.twitter.com/2uX8yP1ehx

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) May 29, 2025

Magnussen spent five months in America training in the pool and gym, with the assistance of a drugs “protocol”, which saw his physique balloon to a “massive” size.

The Olympic silver medallist said he was squatting 227kg and lifting 120kg dumbbells.

“There was points during that process where my athleticism was at its peak,” he said.

“If I put that on my shoulders I would have folded like a deck chair before this started.”

Magnussen said the months-long training and doping block was an emotional rollercoaster and his training times weren’t as fast in the lead-up to his world record attempt in February.

Despite being pipped to the post, Magnussen is adamant he has what it takes to go faster and win the Enhanced Games in May next year.

“Other competitors will watch that and go ‘Oh he wasn’t that fast’,” he said.

“I know how fast I was at different times in my preparation and I know what to do differently.”

James Magnussen got bulked up for the world record attempt. Photo: Instagram.

Magnussen became the public face of the Enhanced Games. Photo: Instagram.

The 21-second barrier has proved elusive for the world’s top swimmers, with Cameron McEvoy winnning last year’s Olympic final in 21.25 seconds.

McEvoy has a personal best of 21.06 seconds, American star Caeleb Dressel has a PB of 21.04 seconds and Australia’s Kyle Chalmers recently lowered his PB to 21.78 seconds.

McEvoy and Ariarne Titmus are among several top swimmers who have criticised the Enhanced Games.

They’re not the only swimmers who aren’t a fan of the concept.

French swimming superstar Leon Marchand, who won four gold medals at the Paris Olympics, commented “this is sad” on a video of Gkolomeev’s swim.

Magnussen: I bulked too much

Opening up on his intense juiced-up training regime, Magnussen said he would take less performance enhancing drugs and not be as bulked up for his next world record attempt.

“With my next preparation, I won’t be as big as I was,” Magnussen said.

“My doses were low to moderate — doctors have been like, ‘You can microdose that stuff’. “You can microdose, get the same effects, get less size but still get the recovery and be able to train hard and have a much better for the actual games.

“We were looking at this 50m freestyle and going ‘strength is going to be a big benefit’. But there’s definitely a point where strength stops being a benefit and you’re too strong. How strong does a swimmer need to be?

Kristian Gkolomeev and James Magnussen training in the USA. Photo: Enhanced Games

“Now I think I would prepare like a natural athlete and the protocol is just a cherry on top. It just gives you that extra bit.

“The way we viewed it the first time is, this protocol is going to make you superhuman, we’ll train you harder than anyone’s trained before because you’ll have the ability to.

“This time around, I’ll prepare and get myself in the best possible shape naturally and add that protocol on top — that extra couple of per cent that you need to go from world standard to fastest in history.”

James Magnussen during his training for the Enhanced Games.

Juice but no suit

Magnussen famously declared he needed “juice and a suit” to break the world record, but it turns out he didn’t swim in one of swimming’s banned supersuits.

The sight of Magnussen’s muscles bulging out of his swim suit stunned sporting fans around the world, but he didn’t actually race in a supersuit.

“Those supersuits do make you a bit bigger,” Magnussen said.

“It was taking about four people 30 minutes to get me into a suit. It hurts. It’s cutting into your traps and lats.”

The polyurethane swimming suits, that saw records tumble at the 2008 Olympics and 2009 world championships, are no longer made — and the one Magnussen did track down broke the night before he raced.

“Because these were made illegal, they just stopped producing them worldwide,” he said.

“We were scouring the world for a supersuit, we found one.

The supersuit procedure didn't quite go to plan. Photo: Instagram.

James Magnussen and other swimming competitors are also using the banned super-suits. Image: Enhanced Games

“We saved this, I tried the suit on the night before I race and the suit breaks at the thigh. The suits Kristian and I wear, they’re like an open water suit. The ones we wore were about 40 per cent polyurethane, basically it’s 40 per cent as good as the OG (original).

“The bigger the athlete, the more it helps. That was a big factor in me saying I can break the world record — I want one of these (suits). Now, leading into the actual Games.

“It doesn’t seem that hard to make. There’s no rules for these Games. Why can’t we go double, triple the thickness and really float a guy.

“I’m now looking into who can manufacture me one of these bad boys for the actual Games.”

What is the Enhanced Games?

Around 100 athletes are expected to compete at the inaugural event next year, with many competitors’ names kept secret until closer to the event.

The Enhanced Games plans to pay $US250,000 for each gold medal and $US1 million to anyone who breaks a world record in the 100m sprint or the 50m freestyle.

The Games will have four swimming events, the 50m and 100m freestyle and the 50m and 100m butterfly.

The athletics events will be the 100m sprint and 100m hurdles.

Athletes can choose to remain “natural” or enhance their performance with substances – under the watchful eye of Enhanced Games medical staff.

“The Enhanced Games welcomes athletes across three categories: natural athletes, independently enhanced athletes, and athletes enhanced through protocols designed and supervised by our medical team,” Aron D’Souza said in a statement announcing the Games on Thursday (AEST).

“We live in a world transformed by science – from vaccines to AI. But sport has stood still. Until today.

“We are not updating the rule book. We are re-writing it. And we’re doing it safely, ethically, and boldly.”

FILE - Australia's James Magnussen smiles as he hold the gold medal he won in the Men's 100m freestyle final at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, on Aug. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

Olympic gold eluded James Magnussen

Magnussen’s ascent began at the 2010 Australian Swimming Championships where his third-placed finish in the 100m freestyle scored him a spot on the national team as a teenager.

Later that year, he was part of Australia’s gold medal 4×100m freestyle relay team at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, with his blistering speed earning him “The Missile” nickname.

His major individual breakthrough then came at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, where he became the first Australian man to win the 100m freestyle world title, clocking 47.63 seconds.

He also secured gold in the 4×100m freestyle relay and silver in the 4×100m medley relay.

Magnussen was a big favourite heading into the 2012 London Olympics but he missed gold by 0.01 seconds, with American Nathan Adrian claiming gold.

In 2013, he defended his 100m freestyle world title in Barcelona, reaffirming his dominance in the event.

From there, however, his career was stunted by several shoulder injuries.

But despite that he still managed to claim medals at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

However, the troublesome shoulder led him to cut his career short at the age of just 28 in 2019.

He then stunned fans last year by announcing his intention to break the elusive world record, with the help of banned substances, at the Enhanced Games.

Originally published as James Magnussen spills on ‘massive’ physique, getting beaten to world record