The high level of confidence in world 100m freestyle champion James "The Missile" Magnussen (AUS), on a trajectory to become the first Australian since Michael Wenden in 1968 to win the blue ribband Olympic title on August 1 in London, should not be read as arrogance, Australia's head coach Leigh Nugent says today.

The 20-year-old coached by Brant Best in Sydney told reporters last week that he is relishing being the man to beat, stating: "I kind of like it, I get to sit back and see what everyone else does and sort of know what pace I need to swim and let everyone worry about me and swim my own race. The advantage is that I have those times on the board, I know exactly how I'm going to swim my hundred and if they're going to start changing their race plans then that's their disadvantage."

In a land that tends to knock anyone who fails to "keep their neck in", Nugent leapt to Magnussen's defence when he told Reuters, the news agency: "Some people don't want to show that confidence verbally but James does. But there's no conceitedness about his confidence, he just says 'these are the facts and this is what I'm doing'. I think it's a refreshing change."

An accurate portrayal, Nugent's view backed up by the facts on the clock and in the race: putting his muscle where his mouth is, Magnussen, after clocking the fastest time ever by a man in a textile suit when leading Australia to gold in the 4x100m free at world titles in Shanghai last year, got close to his 47.49 stunner a couple of days later by lifting the blue ribband crown in 47.63.

This year, young gun Magnussen is to be found firing at the helm of the early world rankings on a 48.05 at a time of hard training in January. Amazing speed at any time, apt to make the sprint crew quiver when they consider that the 20-year-old with potential yet to unlock will be somewhat sharper still come Olympic trials next month.

"He was a long way ahead of the rest of the world last year and he's swimming at that level again," Nugent told Reuters. "It varies so much when they're in hard training, sometimes by some stroke of luck they can swim quite fast, and then the next week they struggle. He hasn't peaked yet. I think his peak's a little way off."

Trials in Adelaide mid-March will; bring on the burners. "A really quick swim at trials would sort of turn heads a little and just keep me on the front foot and constantly keeping people guessing," Magnussen said last week at NSW state titles after a 49sec win that he described as "bloody terrible". 

If Magnussen appears to relish pressure, in common with many a champion present and past,  Nugent is confident that even when the lights go on and the curtain rises to a crowd of 17,500 in London, Australia's prime speedster will cope and thrive, in part because of experience gleaned as a schoolboy rugby league player.

"He's a pretty together young man," says Nugent. "He seems to revel in a pressured environment. I guess when he was a young kid playing other sports, he might have developed the skills to deal with those pressures."

The pantheon beckons, Nugent believes: "I think he can reach lofty heights. I think he can be one of those swimmers who people talk about for a long time like Matt Biondi and Pieter van den Hoogenband."

Hoogie spoke of the "awesome" Magnussen at a recent sports award ceremony in London and said that he believed the Australian would be practically unbeatable this summer if he found his best form at the hour.