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Ariarne Titmus took an experimental approach and Kaylee McKeown just tried not to get disqualified.
Yet both swimming aces threatened world records only to fall shy in Australia Olympic Monday night selection trials.
For Titmus, improving her own world record in the 400m freestyle was not on her mind at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.
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But by the time she disappeared in the last 10 meters, she was below record pace.
“I took it out and was pretty fearless,” Titmus said after clocking three minutes, 55.44 seconds, missing his world record of 3:55.38 set last July.
“Trials are a bit of a free-for-all for me.
“I don’t have to worry about my qualifying time going down, so if I pile up I have the luxury of probably still being in the team. So it’s about trying new things.
“And I think to win you always have to try new things, you can’t just expect to keep doing the same thing and expect to keep winning.”
Lanny Pallister finished second behind Titmus in 4:02.27, bettering the Olympic qualifying time set by Swimming Australia.
McKeown set a Commonwealth record in the 200m individual medley, a grueling event she is adding to her program at the Paris Olympics.
The reigning Olympic 100m and 200m backstroke champion touched for 2.06.63. Hungarian Katinka Hossu’s world record is 2:06.12 and has stood for almost nine years.
McKeown’s time is the fastest in the event this year, but, like Titmus, she isn’t aiming for a record.
“When you’re in the middle of a race, you kind of just switch off and I focus on not getting disqualified (DQ),” she said.
Australia’s most successful Olympian Emma McKeon has secured a place at the Paris Games starting on July 26.
McKeon, who already has five gold, two silver and four bronze Olympic medals, triumphed in the 100m butterfly.
“The tension is always high at the Olympic trials. It’s just crazy,” said McKeon, who has the freestyle sprints coming up later in the seven-day meet.
“Everyone is always going to be very nervous, so I’m glad I got through it my first time.”
McKeon clocked 56.85, while runner-up Alex Perkins finished in 57.33, about 0.16 seconds outside the automatic qualifying mark.
In the men’s 400m freestyle final, Elijah Winnington, the 2022 world champion in the event, and Sam Short, the 2023 world champion, continued their rivalry with a stroke-for-stroke battle.
Winnington (3:43.26) beat Short (3:43.90) with a last-gasp burst.
And in the men’s 100m breaststroke, Sam Williamson’s winning time of 58.80 booked his ticket to Paris, with Joshua Yong second in 59.48, one-hundredth of a second inside the qualifying time.
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