Something funny happened this week.
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In a non-Olympics year, swimming found itself in the headlines.
Suddenly, a one-off selection tweak had created a firestorm that had spilled on to front pages, back pages and, of course, social media.
It was the perfect storm.
The pop star attempting to break into the insular world of swimming. The Olympic gold medalist with all the bravado of a champion.
And a love triangle. Poor old Emma McKeon finding herself in the middle of it all.
It's the stuff of Hollywood and the media, and the public ate it all up.
Cody Simpson, the aforementioned pop star and McKeon's new boyfriend, has brought almost unprecedented interest to swimming.
Simpson is the man every journalist wants to interview.
Kyle Chalmers, the Olympic gold medalist, struggled to hide his frustration during the Australian Titles.
National champion Matt Temple was an afterthought, the cameras flocking to Simpson and Chalmers.
After a week of drama, nearly everyone went home happy.
Chalmers will swim at the World Championships. Simpson will compete at the Commonwealth Games alongside Chalmers.
The saga raises two crucial questions for Swimming Australia.
The sport has seen a plunge in popularity since the heyday of the late 90s and early 2000s.
The likes of Kieren Perkins, Ian Thorpe, Susie O'Neil and Leisel Jones were household names. Today, McKeon and Ariarne Titmus are the only two who come close to their predecessors.
The challenge now for Swimming Australia is to build on the success of last year's Tokyo Olympics and the recent headlines.
The next few months provide a golden opportunity.
A World Championships followed by the Commonwealth Games and a Duel In The Pool against the US in Sydney provide an unprecedented window to promote the sport.
And there's no shortage of content to promote.
The rivalry between Simpson and Chalmers will make for fascinating viewing. Titmus is set to do battle with US nemesis Katie Ledecky for the first time since their Tokyo epic.
McKeon, of course, is one of Australia's greatest swimmers of all time.
If promoted well, the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre should be packed to the rafters. Ratings should be through the roof.
It's a challenge for Swimming Australia's commercial team, but it's not the only challenge likely to emerge.
The high-performance unit has its own problem to resolve.
Part of the drama of the past week was borne out of the decision to allow individual Olympic medalists automatic entry to the Commonwealth Games.
That saw McKeon and Chalmers opt to bypass the World Championships. Chalmers ultimately changed his mind, triggering the whole Simpson mess.
It was a change in selection policy supported by the sports elite.
For someone like McKeon, it allowed her to fully rest and recuperate from a gruelling 2021 without the risk of missing selection for the Commonwealth Games.
She's confident the benefits of her time off over the summer will become clear when she arrives in Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
But the shift also marks a drastic change in mentality.
Swimming Australia prides itself on its cutthroat policy.
You either perform at trials or you miss the team.
It ensures swimmers are at their best when the stakes are high and ensures drama for the media to feast on.
Finish third at the Olympic trials and four years of hard work could be all for nought.
There are fewer cutthroat events in Australian sport.
Swimming Australia has declared this year's shift is a one-off. It's likely, however, a middle ground will be found moving forward.
Some swimmers deserve the chance of selection security. Others have not earned that luxury.
Where a line is drawn will no doubt be controversial.
The Olympic Trials will likely stay sacrosanct. No one will walk on to that team. In the years between, officials have scope to experiment.
Such a shift will help swimmers enjoy lengthier, more lucrative careers. Instead of churning through athletes before we get to know them, we can follow their journey over numerous years.
They can become household names again.
The sport of swimming has been here before. Riding the wave of a stunningly-successful Olympics and back in the headlines for all the right reasons.
This time, officials must not squander the opportunity. This time they must ensure their sport returns to its rightful place in the national consciousness.
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