Kaylee McKeown has taken her first competitive step back to the top of swimming.
The five-time Olympic gold medallist was one of the headline names at the inaugural Swim GP, the two-day made-for-TV event held over Friday and Saturday nights at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
McKeown gave a glimpse of her blistering backstroke speed on Saturday night, storming home after the staggered start to beat Ella Ramsay's breaststroke in the 50m skins champions race.
The Wahoo team, lead by Meg Harris and Sam Short, dominated the two-night Swim GP and comfortably won on 222 points. McKeown's Tsunami were next on 173, ahead of Kraken (170) and KingTide (149).
Lani Pallister, who swum an excellent 400m freestyle on Friday night ahead of next month's world short course championships, and Flynn Southam led KingTide.
Kyle Chalmers captained Kraken from the pool deck as he nurses his ongoing back problems, while fellow team leader Mollie O'Callaghan withdrew from the Swim GP because of a skin infection.
McKeown was a shock withdrawal from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games because of glandular fever and is rebuilding health and fitness.
This is her first racing since the world championships in July last year.
"I've been doing some pretty solid sessions, but it's hard to come into these races - not racing all year - and then my body just hasn't recovered as quickly as it would," McKeown said.
"It's good, nice practice and gives a bit of confidence that I'm still swimming well.
"It's great there are no times, which takes the pressure off - it's just about racing."
As McKeown notes, glandular fever affects people differently and in her case, "it just really knocked me flat".
So competing for the Tsunami team at the Swim GP, with nothing riding on the results, is an ideal stepping stone as McKeown looks to next year's world championships and then the 2028 Olympics.
"It's really good fun and I'm glad we can race in this format," she said.
"It's taken a long time to build back and then I have to build to where I was, which is even more of a gap.
"I'm lucky it was this year and not next year, when it counts, so it's a blessing in disguise - I've had some nice time at home."
McKeown won the 50m backstroke skins event amid her racing at the Swim GP and admitted it had tested her fitness.
"The sprinters would like a little bit less on the program, but that's the way that it is," she said.
"It's about racing tough and getting out there, doing your best."
Swim GP is a points-based competition in a 25m pool, with no official times recorded and a variety of relay and individual race formats.
