James Magnussen ended an extraordinary week by claiming the sprint double at the Australian Olympic trials with his third consecutive personal best time in the 50-meters freestyle Wednesday. The world champion, who swam within 0.19 seconds of the 100m freestyle world record Monday, hit the wall in 21.74secs to touch out Eamon Sullivan (21.92) to claim a second individual swim at this year's London Games. In three swims in the 50m helter-skelter at the trials, ‘The Missile,' as Magnussen is dubbed, has carved a massive 0.67secs off his best one-lap time to set the year's best time in the event. Magnussen said he was surprised at how he was reeling off personal best times in the 50m, which he considers his second string event to the 100m. Magnussen said he was confident he could lower his 100m time from the 47.10secs he set in winning the 100m event at the trials. Sullivan, the former 100m freestyle world record holder, put behind a nightmare three years of injuries and surgeries to grab an individual swim at London in August as runner-up. Geoff Huegill's comeback bid for the Olympics ended when he finished fifth and out of the top two qualifying spots in the 100m butterfly. Chris Wright gained his second individual butterfly swim at the Games with victory in 51.67secs ahead of Jayden Hadler (52.09) and Matt Targett (52.24). Two-time Olympic medallist Huegill, 33, was fifth in 52.50 and said he was unsure whether he would continue swimming, having made a return after shedding 45 kgs to claim gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Belinda Hocking will swim in both backstroke events in London after winning the 200m final in 2:06.68 from Meagen Nay. Kylie Palmer claimed the distance freestyle double with victory in the 800m in 8:26.60 and will be joined in London by Jessica Ashwood. Three-time Olympic champion Libby Trickett boosted her hopes of an individual spot at the Olympics when she was third-fastest in the semifinals with 24.86 in the 50m freestyle behind the Campbell sisters, Cate (24.55) and Bronte (24.78). Manaudou qualifies In Dunkirk, France, former Olympic champion Laure Manaudou secured her ticket for the 2012 London Games Tuesday after claiming the French title in the 100 meters backstroke. Manaudou, the 400m freestyle champion in Athens in 2004, clocked a winning time of 1min 00.16sec. The maximum qualifying time was 1:00.82. It also means she will compete at her third Olympics. She had a miserable experience at the 2008 Games in Beijing, where she finished eighth and last in the 400m, seventh in the 100m freestyle and failed to qualify for the 200m backstroke final. Joining Manaudou in London will be 19-year-old Yannick Agnel, who beat his own French record on his way to a third consecutive national title in the 200m.
