Emma McKeon and national teammates will ride the wave of their Commonwealth Games success when they clash with swimming rivals the United States in a head-to-head event in Sydney.
Superstar McKeon collected six gold medals, a silver and a bronze in Birmingham, while Australia topped the medal table with 25 of a possible 52 swimming golds, and 65 of the 156 medals in the pool.
McKeon is feeling the benefits of three months spent out of the pool earlier this year and skipping the world championships, and expects to still be near her peak as she spearheads Australia's team in the rebirth of the event between the two superpowers.
"I'm feeling pretty fresh," McKeon said.
"This will be something fun. Doing things like this keeps it fresh and exciting.
"Being able to compete in a whole different way with two high-level teams against each other will be exciting.
"But Paris (Olympic Games in 2024) is the main driver. To keep improving, that's what motivates me every day in training."
The Duel in the Pool returns to Sydney for the first time since 2007 with a mix of traditional and experimental events, starting with an open water relay at Bondi Beach on Friday.
The meet then moves to two nights of fierce competition at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Saturday and Sunday.
Each team is made up of 30 swimmers who will race for pride as much as points that will decide the overall winner of the event.
Australia are close to full strength with a squad that includes McKeon, Kaylee McKeown and rising star Mollie O'Callaghan, although Ariarne Titmus and Kyle Chalmers were unavailable.
Zac Stubblety-Cook will use the event to cap-off a remarkable 12 months that has saw him claim the Olympic, Commonwealth Games and world championship 200m breaststroke titles.
"I'm not racing my pet event so it will be a bit of a different race, but that makes it exciting to just go and have a crack," Stubblety-Cook said.
"I wish there was a 200 breaststroke but it is what it is, and I can use the event to practice for the 100."
The United States will be without legend Katie Ledecky but their line-up includes top emerging talent as well as Olympians like Ryan Held, who was part of the team that won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the world championships.
Held also won gold in the marquee relay event at the 2016 Olympics and expects another close contest in the race that sparked the Australia and United States swimming rivalry.
"That's the event we pride the most," Held said.
"Whenever we select teams, that's the first priority. We pick the top four 100 freestylers, then we'll do the individual events.
"To win that will be huge, we really want to win that."
