The history of Australian swimming is littered with athletes seemingly appearing out of nowhere to take the sport, and often the nation, by storm.
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In 2014 that swimmer was Emma McKeon, the then-20-year-old bursting on to the scene at the Commonwealth Games, claiming four gold and two bronze medals and a new world record in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay.
Just four years later at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, it looked like the cycle had continued, with then-17-year-old Ariarne Titmus emerging as Australia's next freestyle superstar and seemingly usurping McKeon.
But at the recent Australian trials for this month's Swimming World Championships, something unexpected happened. McKeon hit back.
And not only did she hit back, she went faster than she's ever swum before in three events, the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and the 200m freestyle where she beat Titmus by half a second.
That challenge posed by Titmus, McKeon believes, has acted as a driving force in pushing her to swim faster than ever before.
"It's been really good to have a strong competitor coming through and to be able to race someone as fast as her in Australia," McKeon said. "It means the standard of everyone in Australia lifts."
Swimmers aren't supposed to have a second act. Even the four years McKeon has spent at the top is a relatively long time. Ian Thorpe's reign as the king of the pool lasted five years and he was just 22 when he first walked away from the sport. McKeon is currently 25.
That is what makes this year's resurgence so special for McKeon. And it's why the next 13 months will have such a big impact on how the Wollongong product's career is looked back on once she retires.
Already her resume includes an incredible four Olympic medals, 11 World Championship medals and eight Commonwealth medals, but now she has the opportunity to secure the last two items yet to hang around her neck. Individual gold medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games.
McKeon knows she's up for a fight at the World Championships in Gwangju, but If her recent form is anything to go by, a gold medal in any or all of her primary events is well within her grasp.
"I'm in a really good position heading into Worlds," she said. "The confidence is a big thing for me, I know I'm in good shape, working well and training hard. It's a big mental advantage knowing I've swum those times only five weeks before the competition."
Should she thrive in South Korea, it will act as the perfect launching pad for the big prize that looms 13 months away, Olympic gold.