Tom Decent

James Magnussen’s resting heart rate is down to 28 beats per minute as he prepares to go all-in on the world’s most controversial sporting experiment taking place in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Like most NSW high school students in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Thursday mornings after State of Origin was often a tough time for Victor Radley.

As a boy growing up in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, Victor Radley lived for State of Origin nights. But he had grown to accept the chance to represent his state had passed him by.

As Cam McEvoy’s world record time becomes a focal point Las Vegas, swimmers say the lure of million-dollar bonuses outweighed concerns over drugs, reputation and risk.

Las Vegas: A clean swimmer from the United States has beaten athletes who have taken performance-enhancing substances to pocket $US250,000 ($350,000) at the controversial Enhanced Games.

Kristian Gkolomeev’s time will carry no legitimacy in elite swimming circles, but his teammates celebrated as though it were a genuine world record.

Even coach Laurie Daley looked stunned at full-time after NSW produced the greatest escape in State of Origin history.