Australia's James Magnussen has put himself into hermitage in the leadup to the 2012 London Olympics, according to Australia's the Daily Telegraph.
“No, this is definitely it – my very last photograph. From now until my race in London, I'll sort of disappear a bit. Fly under the radar,” the 100 freestyle favorite told the Telegraph. ”From now on, it's best if I can keep the rest of the world guessing.”
He also reported that he is done racing between now and the Olympics, meaning that he will have four months (between March's Trials and the end of July) without a formal race. That's a bold strategy, especially for a sprinter where there's such little chance in 47 seconds to make up for a mistake.
But bold is something that Magnussen has always been, and the Australian media has eaten it up. The media coverage down-under is 10-fold what it is in the United States, and therefore so is the pressure. This is the first time that he's shyed away from that attention, but at this point, he's done enough to establish himself that his results from Australian Trials should speak for themselves.