The successful returns of Kyle Chalmers and Cate Campbell at the Australian Short Course Championships has helped set the scene for a pair of mouth-watering freestyle sprints should the duo continue to fire, heading towards next year's Commonwealth Games.
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Already one of the blue ribbon events, the men's and women's 100 metres freestyles now shape as the showpiece race in April, with old scores to settle and possibly careers on the line.
Whether the outdoor Gold Coast pool can be the scene of ultra-quick times remains to be seen. But the clock will take second fiddle as both Chalmers and Campbell run into a world-class field as they reach the early peaks of their respective comebacks.
Chalmers had surgery on his heart earlier in June to correct supraventricular tachycardia, a recurrent rapid heartbeat. The symptoms had gradually been increasing and taking a toll on his performance.
With that now given the all clear, the Olympic champion has returned in good style, winning the 100 metres short-course event in his home pool in Adelaide, although he stands to run into much stiffer competition as he prepares for the national titles in February, then the Games six weeks later.
Two of his main rivals, Cameron McEvoy and James Magnussen, weren't swimming in Adelaide but both have points to prove on the Gold Coast.
McEvoy will be on his home turf and has the fastest textile 100 metre swim in history. But his ability to clock quick times hasn't translated into gold medals at major meetingss. He struggled in the final in Rio, before finishing fourth in the FINA World Championships in Hungary behind rising US star Caeleb Dressel.
Magnussen won gold in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but has faced a long road back from shoulder surgery since. He needs sharp improvement to return to his best times, which, in turn, will make him competitive in the global scene.
In many ways, the Gold Coast will represent his grand final. At 26, if he's unable to match it with Chalmers and McEvoy, his dreams of returning to the ranks of the elite sprinters in time for Tokyo may well be broken.
For Campbell, beating sister Bronte will be the immediate goal at the trials, before she faces a world-class field headlined by Canada's Olympic champion Penny Oleksiak.
Oleksiak won gold in Rio at just 16 years of age, dead-heating with American Simone Manuel, while Campbell was back in the field. Revenge will be sweet for Campbell and a gold medal will have her clear a significant mental hurdle on a big stage.
