Australia’s James Magnussen has brushed aside months of post-Olympic controversy with the fastest 50 metres freestyle of the year to confirm his blistering form ahead of the World Championships in Spain.

The 22-year-old’s disappointing London showing, where he failed to lead Australia to the 4x100m relay title and finished second in the individual event, was followed by a lengthy post-mortem back home.

At the Australian championships in Adelaide this week, however, Magnussen put all that behind him and proved that he still has no domestic match over one or two lengths of the pool.

On Tuesday, he won the 100 metres freestyle for a third successive national title in 47.53 seconds – the fastest time of the year in the blue riband sprint.

On Thursday, he again blew away all competition to claim victory in the shorter sprint in 21.52 seconds – his personal best over 50 metres and quick enough to have secured silver in the event at last year’s Olympics.

“I got in the warm-up pool and thought ‘it is going to be quick tonight’,” Magnussen said.

“That was the best 50m I have ever put together technically. The moment I broke out of the water I knew I had it in the bag.”