Australia's swimmers are hoping for plenty of success at the Paris Olympics. ABC Sport's Amanda Shalala and Simon Smale are in Paris and gave their insights into the key Australian gold medal contenders.
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00:00Simon, there are incredibly high expectations for the Australian swim team at these Games.
00:13Arianne Titmuss, let's talk about her.
00:16She had a breakthrough Games in Tokyo, what are you thinking she can do here?
00:20More of the same, I really do.
00:22She's been in sensational form.
00:24We were both at the Australian Swimming Trials in Brisbane.
00:28She was magnificent, she broke the world record in the 200 in one of the best races
00:33I think I've ever seen against her team-mate Molly O'Callaghan for 400 metres.
00:37She is a world record holder in that, and by quite a comfortable distance as well.
00:41Of course, it's a very, very hot field, you've got four of the fastest women ever in that
00:46400 metre field, but Arianne is leading the pack, and leading the pack by as good as a
00:51second, so I think she's well on track to win two individual medals, hopefully both
00:56of them gold.
00:57And then, with her in such great form, anchoring that 4x200 metre relay, she's going to have
01:02another fantastic Games, and I just can't wait to see her do it.
01:06What about Molly O'Callaghan?
01:07She is only 20 years old, a lot of pressure on her shoulders.
01:12Can she live up to it?
01:13Well, a lot of pressure that she puts on herself.
01:15She admitted during the Australian Trials that she was really feeling that pressure
01:19and that she wasn't sleeping properly.
01:21The burden of being a world record holder in the 200 metres, she doesn't have that anymore.
01:26That's been taken off her shoulders, and I wonder if that will help her, actually.
01:29She's got two events as well, the 200 metres and the 100 metres, and I think she's a great
01:33chance in both.
01:35Her first Games, she's obviously going to be nervous, swimming the individual events.
01:40She's going to be nervous, but she's got the ability.
01:43She's got all the ability in the world, and I just can't wait to see how she goes as well.
01:48Kayleigh McEwen picked up two gold in Tokyo.
01:51Can she do it again?
01:52Look, I think it's going to be very tough.
01:54The 100 metres backstroke is ultra competitive.
01:57You've got the Americans who are coming really, really strong.
02:00The world record was broken in that American Trial, so Kayleigh does not have that burden
02:05on her shoulders of being a world record holder.
02:06She is the hunter rather than the hunted, but she is still the hunted in the 200 metres
02:10backstroke, and that, I think, is her real forte, that endurance event.
02:13She's a medley swimmer as well.
02:15She's got that 200 IM.
02:16She's going to be up against Summer McIntosh in that 200 metres IM, which is going to be
02:19fascinating, because Summer McIntosh is a generational talent.
02:22She's still a teenager.
02:24Look, she'd be very disappointed in herself if she doesn't come away with medals, but
02:28I think to win medals, she's going to need to break a world record.
02:30She's capable of it.
02:31Let's see how she goes.
02:32And what about the Aussie men?
02:34Who should we be looking out for?
02:35Well, look, Sam Short and Elijah Winnington, they are the two men in the middle distance
02:40and long distance events, so you're talking the 400, the 800, and in Sam Short's case,
02:45the 1500 metre as well.
02:47Sam was not at his best during the Australian Trials.
02:50He was sick.
02:51He had a really debilitating stomach bug, and that actually meant that he missed out
02:54on swimming in the 1500.
02:56He's still qualified on the basis of having swam the qualification time.
03:01He's going to have to really up what we've seen so far from him this year, but he's certainly
03:05capable of it.
03:06And Elijah in that 400 metres, I really like Elijah.
03:09He's such a strong swimmer.
03:10He's such a powerful competitor as well.
03:13If he is within a sniff of a medal coming into the last 100 or the last 50, you can
03:19almost bet your bottom dollar that he's going to get it.
03:21Apart from that, Cam McAvoy, first Australian man to ever come to four games.
03:26He's only swimming the 50 metres freestyle, so that can be a little bit of a lottery.
03:30If you get your dive angle wrong by a couple of degrees, you can lose a tenth of a second.
03:34A tenth of a second can make a difference between first and fifth.
03:37He'll need to get everything right.
03:39I think he's a really good chance of coming away with something in his record-breaking
03:43games.
03:44Exciting times ahead here in Paris.
03:45Simon Smale, merci beaucoup.