University of Tennessee Athletics
Magnuson Training for Olympics
July 11, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Christine Magnuson has been capturing medals her whole career, but this August the former Lady Vol swimming star, Southeastern Conference champion and 26-time All-America selection will be chasing an even more illustrious award - an Olympic gold medal.
"My goals are set high," Magnuson said. "I want to represent the team the best I can and help get a medal."
Magnuson became the first former Lady Vol swimmer to capture a U.S. Olympic Trials title on June 30 with a victory in the 100m butterfly at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.
Magnuson won the final with a time of 58.11 to earn a trip to the 2008 Olympics.
"She's just a real joy to coach," UT Head Swimming Coach Matt Kredich said. "This means so much for our program. The Olympics are the highest level of achievement in the sport."
Magnuson will be the first former Lady Vol swimmer to represent the United States at the Olympic Games. Former UT student-athlete Teresa Moodie competed for Zimbabwe at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, while Fabiola Molina competed for Brazil at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Also in 2000, Julia Stowers won gold as a member of the 800m free relay. She spent 2005 on the UT swimming squad.
Magnuson was actually at her best in the semifinals of the 100m fly. The Tinley Park, Ill., native entered the finals with the top seed after posting an Olympic Trials-record 57.50 in the semifinals on June 29. That time also ranks her third in the world this year and is the seventh-fastest performance in swimming history.
Later in the week, Magnuson competed in the 100m and 200m freestyle events, and placed eighth in the 50m freestyle.
Immediately after the Trials, Magnuson traveled from Omaha to Palo Alto with the rest of the Olympic team. She will spend 2.5 weeks training there before traveling to Singapore for a week and then finally Beijing, China. She also recently signed with agent David Arluck.
"It's been a whirlwind experience," she said. "It's been really exciting so far."
In Palo Alto, Magnuson said she has been training twice a day with an additional dry land workout. During the night she and the rest of the Olympic team have been treated to various speakers brought by the USOC.
"Everyday has been something different," she said. "We are learning about where we are going and their culture - what's appropriate and what's not appropriate."
Although she entered Rocky Top as a multiple-time high school All-America, Magnuson said only in the last couple of years did she realize she had the opportunity to compete in the Olympics.
"It's been a gradual realization," she said.
Kredich started at Tennessee three years ago and began coaching Magnuson her sophomore year.
"When I first started with her three years ago, she was certainly a real good swimmer," Kredich said. "But that's the year she started taking butterfly more seriously. We started working more and more on the fly that summer and her junior year she made a real commitment to the fly as an event."
During her junior year, Magnuson won the SEC Championship in the 100y fly and picked up seven All-America certificates at the 2007 NCAA meet. That summer she placed in the top-seven in five events at the Japan International Grand Prix.
After her taste of success at the collegiate and international level in 2007, Magnuson's confidence continued to grow during her senior year.
"Coming into this year, she made a private goal of winning NCAAs in the 100y fly," Kredich said.
Which is exactly what Magnuson did this past March to become UT's first national champion in 10 years. Additionally, she won four gold medals and a bronze medal at the 2008 SEC Championships where she was named the 2008 SEC Female Swimmer of the Year to cap her career at Rocky Top.
"This was a nice way to end my senior year," she said. "I'll probably have a close relationship with UT for years to come. My career's not over, though. We'll see what happens."
Lady Vol fans can see Magnuson, clad in Speedo gear, chase gold beginning on Aug. 9. She opens with the preliminaries of the 100m butterfly that evening in Beijing. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for the mornings of Aug. 10-11.
The 2008 Olympics run from Aug. 8-24 with coverage provided by NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen and USA Network.
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