Michael Phelps praised his 4x100m conqueror James Magnussen Monday and admitted Australia had opened a new chapter in the freestyle relay after they shocked triple world champions America in Shanghai.
Phelps said the "exciting" Magnussen, 20, was set to be a major force on the world stage after he ignored steamed-up goggles to hold off the 14-time Olympic champion in the lead-off leg, setting the stage for a famous win.
"I saw the split, he split that 100 pretty good. I think he was back in about 24.3 (seconds) coming home, so that\'s really good," Phelps said.
"He\'s talented, young. I think it\'s going to make it exciting for the sport. Definitely adds something else to that relay, that\'s for sure."
Magnussen shrugged off his swim despite being instrumental in Australia\'s biggest win in the event since the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The Aussies remained in front throughout, finishing ahead of France with the United States third.
"This was my first race against Michael Phelps. I was pretty sure he would be swimming first so I was well prepared for that," Magnussen said late Sunday.
"I was in lane two and I couldn\'t really see him, and I was breathing the other way on the way home so I was pretty much swimming my own race. And my goggles fogged up so much I couldn\'t see much anyway."
Anchor man Eamon Sullivan said Australia\'s under-rated team had been quietly confident of springing the surprise, which immediately put their swimmers back on top of the sport and set up a mouth-watering Olympic clash next year.
"We\'ve been working towards this sort of achievement for a while," Sullivan said.
"We knew we weren\'t going to be in the mix on paper but we knew the work we\'d been doing and the talent and the depth we\'ve had over the last year, we definitely had the experience and youth to really surprise people."
"I think we paced ourselves really well and really had a good race structure," he added.
America\'s Ryan Lochte was forced to watch from the sidelines as Australia ended his team\'s long streak in the 4x100m freestyle, including three world titles and the Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
"Going into relays like that, Team USA are always looking to win. I mean, we have the best guys in the world," Lochte said.
"Everyone swam their heart out, I guess that\'s all you can ask for. I wish I was on it (the relay team) but it is what it is. Yesterday\'s yesterday, today\'s a new day so you\'ve just got to move forward."
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