I might be mistaken here, but I get the impression it was Prof. Dr. Sam Sweet who first said (some species) of varanids can reach their full size within a year, I thought that was directed towards some odatrian species?
I`ve personally never seen a Varanus salvator (of the larger sub species (macromaculatus etc),reach anything close to 6ft or so in 12months, even under optimum conditions? Mine never have!