Advertisement

Raising Arizona: Olympian Christine Magnuson talks about her move

Share via

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Comings and goings ...

Swimmers don’t stay put for long, it seems.

Michael Phelps has been with the same coach, Bob Bowman, seemingly forever. But he went from Baltimore to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and back again to Baltimore, following Bowman.

Christine Magnuson’s decision to uproot from Knoxville, Tenn., to Tucson, Ariz., had more to do with an approach rather than a coach.

She left Tennessee about a year ago to train with University of Arizona coaches Frank Busch and Rick DeMont, both highly respected figures in the sport. The Olympic silver medalist in the 100-meter butterfly mostly works with DeMont.

Magnuson talked about the move Friday at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine after her morning swim in the 100 fly. She posted the fastest qualifying time, going 57.82 seconds, just ahead of American teammate Dana Vollmer’s 57.89.

‘I moved there to join their pro group,’ Magnuson said. ‘They have a lot of pros there working toward London.

‘Tennessee was great and I loved the coaching, but it was all college kids, so I felt like I needed some more people my age and some very similar goals to me. Definitely with London in their sights.’

Advertisement

-- Lisa Dillman

Advertisement