Nine Olympic gold medallists have been named on Australia’s team of forty-one pool swimmers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as the ‘Dolphins’ set their sights on topping the medal tally in the pool for the first time since Melbourne 1956.

Image Source: Ariarne Titmus competes in the Women's 800m Freestyle Final at the 2024 Australian Swimming Trials in Brisbane (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Headlining the squad is two-time Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus who delivered the swim of the Australian Olympic Trials last week as she snatched the 200m Freestyle world record from teammate Mollie O’Callaghan.

In Paris the 23 year-old will swim the 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, and 800m Freestyle, and will be chasing history as she aims to win three individual gold medals at the one Olympic Games. Shane Gould remains the only Australian, male or female, in any sport, to have completed that feat having won the 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, and 200m Individual Medley at Munich 1972. Titmus will also be aiming to become just the second Australian female swimmer to defend an individual Olympic title behind the legendary Dawn Fraser.

Titmus, who trains under Dean Boxall at the St Peters Western club in Brisbane, said after breaking the world record that she was feeling better than she ever has both in and out of the water.

"Honestly, the World Record is a bonus… I am happy to finally put together a swim that I know I'm capable of and it's exciting to do it in my home town,” said Titmus.

Image Source: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Also aiming to become just the second Australian woman to defend an individual Olympic gold medal is Kaylee McKeown who was close to breaking three different world records across the six days of racing at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.

The 22 year-old, who trains under Michael Bohl at Griffith University on Australia’s Gold Coast, was just 0.51 seconds outside Katinka Hosszu’s nine year-old world mark in the 200m Individual Medley on night one of competition. McKeown then gave her own world records a scare - touching just 0.08 outside her 100m Backstroke record and 0.16 off her 200m Backstroke record.

After narrowly missing the 100m Backstroke world record McKeown said she still had more to give in six weeks’ time.

“I'm a little bit disappointed… but I have booked myself another ticket to Paris so that's just another chance to go faster,” said McKeown.

Image Source: Emma McKeon competes in the Women's 100m Butterfly Final during the 2024 Australian Swimming Trials in Brisbane (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

The Australian team is so stacked for talent for the Paris 2024 games that the other female defending Olympic champion, Emma McKeon, wasn’t able to earn a start in either of her gold medal-winning events from Tokyo 2020. Australia’s most-decorated Olympian missed qualifying for the 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle but will swim the 100m Butterfly as she aims to add to her career tally of eleven Olympic medals.

“The highs of the Olympics in Tokyo made me want to do it again,” said McKeon after qualifying for Paris 2024.

“I just felt like I could go faster… and I just had more to give both physically and mentally. The Olympics is everything I've loved and dreamt of and watched since I was a little girl, so it's definitely not hard to motivate myself when there's an Olympics.”

Image Source: Zac Stubblety-Cook competes in the Men's 200 Metre Breaststroke during the 2024 Australian Swimming Trials in Brisbane (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Breaststroker Zac Stubblety-Cook will also get a chance to defend his Olympic title in Paris with the extra incentive of trying to reclaim his 200m Breaststroke world record from current holder Qin Haiyang.

The Vince Raleigh trained 25 year-old from the Chandler club, who trains at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre where the Australian Olympic Trials were staged, will be joined in Paris by a full suite of breaststrokers with Joshua Yong qualifying for the 100m & 200m Breaststroke double, and reigning 50m Breaststroke world champion Sam Williamson to swim the 100m Breaststroke.

"I think this is more relief than elation. I am still searching for my best race, and I hate swimming to a time but that’s how it is at trials, so you do it,” said Stubblety-Cook after qualifying for his second Olympic Games.

Image Source: Mollie O'Callaghan prepares to race in the Women's 200 Metre Freestyle during the 2024 Australian Swimming Trials in Brisbane (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

After losing her World Record to Ariarne Titmus earlier in the week, Mollie O’Callaghan took the first qualifying spot in the 100m Freestyle in a race that saw all but one swimmer go under Australia’s strict qualifying standard. O’Callaghan will be aiming to replicate her Fukuoka 2023 winning form and will swim the 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, and 100m Backstroke in Paris.“I hold myself to very high expectations and I wanted to do well tonight. It’s such a big relief. It’s just part of the preparation and I know that I am on the right step and there’s a lot more to go," said O’Callaghan."I have never had to deal with being the world record holder before, I just got to swim and have fun so it’s a learning curve for me.”

Image Source: : Cameron McEvoy of Team Australia celebrates winning gold in the in the Men's 50m Freestyle Final at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Also named on the Australian team for Paris 2024 are Cameron McEvoy and Bronte Campbell who will both head to a fourth Olympic Games. Joining them will be twenty-two debutants including Lani Pallister, Shayna Jack and Samuel Short.

Image Source: Australian Dolphins Head Coach Rohan Taylor speaks during the Australian Open Swimming Paris 2024 Team Selection Announcement (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images for AOC)

Speaking to media at the team announcement, Head Coach Rohan Taylor said a successful week of racing had delivered one of the strongest Australian teams to travel to a summer Olympic Games.“This has been an outstanding Australian Swimming Trials at Brisbane Aquatic Centre with so many quality swimmers competing fiercely for limited spots,” said Taylor.

“This team is balanced by debutants through to record breakers and stalwarts; from Cam McEvoy and Bronte Campbell at their fourth Games, through to rookies Ben Armbruster and Olivia Wunsch.”

“This is a team that will do Australia proud – in and out of the pool.”