Magnuson wins 100 butterfly at U.S. championships

INDIANAPOLIS - Christine Magnuson is no longer sneaking up on anybody.

As the American record-holder in the 100-meter butterfly, set when she earned an Olympic silver medal in Beijing, the other seven finalists knew what they were up against in the U.S. national championships at the Indiana University Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI. Aware of her new role as defending national champion, the former University of Tennessee standout was up to the task.

Magnuson won in 57.15 seconds, the third fastest in the world this year. She finished ahead of Dana Vollmer by 0.18 seconds. As the top two finishers, Magnuson and Volmer locked up spots on the U.S. team that will travel to Rome for the FINA World Championships starting July 26.

"I think the pressure is off now just being on the (U.S.) team," said Magnuson, who received her degree last spring at UT in exercise science and continued to train there. "Making the team is just so much harder than going there and performing, so I'm excited about worlds."

It was a different scenario at the Olympic Trials last year. Though Magnuson wasn't that far removed from winning the NCAA championship in the 100 fly, she was unknown on the world stage. But after edging Stanford's Elaine Breeden by 0.10 seconds in the final, Magnuson demonstrated that she was indeed a swimmer who would command attention later on. Breeden knew. She finished third to Magnuson in the NCAA meet.

Further enhancing her status was the silver Magnuson added in Beijing as part of the U.S. relay team in the 400 individual medley.

Magnuson, who swam 57.39 in the prelims, welcomed the chance to get the nationals off to a fast start.

"I was happy it was right out of the gate. I could set the tone for my team," said Magnuson. "On the first night, I would know if the pressure was still on for the 100 free (scheduled for Saturday), or if it was off for the week."

With classes out of the way and a degree in hand, Magnuson had mixed emotions while training in Knoxville for the nationals.

"It's been a little bit different graduating and being done with college. There are some pros and cons to it," said Magnuson. "Being in college, you have more activities outside swimming, so you have a little bit of a good distraction, I think, but then to be able to really focus on swimming is good, too."

After the world championships, Magnuson is undecided on her post-graduate plans, but will move in August to Tucson, Ariz., to train with a pro group at the University of Arizona. After a year in Arizona, Magnuson hasn 't ruled out a return to Knoxville.