Cate Campbell has declared she has "nothing to lose" as she closes in on her final Australian swimming trials in pursuit of making an historic fifth Olympic appearance.
No longer a Dolphins youngster nor the fastest woman on the star-studded team, she's open to shaking up what she lived and breathed for more than 20 years.
Campbell, who will be 32 when she launches from the blocks at Brisbane's Olympic trials in June, is tackling this cycle under the watchful eyes of coaches Vince Raleigh and Maxine Seear.
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The Malawi-born champion closed her long and decorated chapter with renowned coach Simon Cusack in 2022, enticed by change as she prepares to bow out after the Paris Games.
Australian swimming greats Campbell, Emily Seebohm and Leisel Jones have all contested four Olympic Games, but Campbell and Seebohm will surpass the breaststroke champion if they land on the Paris 2024 team.
"I had been doing the same thing for so long ... We had a formula that worked well, but it also meant that pretty much when I arrived at the swimming pool I knew exactly what I was facing and I knew how difficult it was going to be," Campbell said with a laugh in an interview with Wide World of Sports.
"So changing up the squad environment, I've changed coaches, changing up training environments has all added a little bit of novelty ... I'm doing it with different people and I'm doing it in a slightly different way."
Campbell is powering up and down the black line with Brisbane's Chandler Swimming Club.
At the same pool in less than a month's time, the veteran will take on Emma McKeon, Brianna Throssell and a swarm of young, homegrown speedsters, including Mollie O'Callaghan, who are desperate to swim in France.
"I also felt like this was a time to experiment with new things, try new things," Campbell said.
"It's almost like I have nothing to lose. I don't feel like I have anything left to prove to anyone, I'm incredibly happy with the career that I've managed to build so far, so this time it was about seeing what else there is out there ... and seeing if they pay off."
Campbell has swum in the 50m and 100m freestyle at every one of her Olympic campaigns, beginning as a 16-year-old at Beijing 2008, where she won 50m freestyle bronze.
In Brisbane in June, she'll be up against McKeon, the reigning Olympic gold medallist in the 50m and 100m freestyle, and 20-year-old phenom O'Callaghan, the winner of the 2022 and 2023 world titles in the 100m, as she fights for a ticket to Paris.
Among Campbell's other rivals are Shayna Jack, Meg Harris, Olivia Wunsch, Milla Jansen and her sister, 30-year-old Bronte.
"The depth in this field in this country is astronomical and it just goes from strength to strength to strength," Campbell said.
Campbell was on Sunday announced as an expert swimming commentator for Nine's Paralympic coverage.
At the national championships on the Gold Coast in April, she finished fourth in the 50m freestyle in 24.79 seconds and sixth in the 100m freestyle in 53.91.
Australia will be able to use up to eight swimmers through the Olympic heats and final of the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Australia has won the past three women's 4x100m relay Olympic gold medals. Campbell was a member of all three relay teams and anchored the 2016 triumph.
She says her thoughts flicker between the everyday grind and the Paris Olympics.
"I would say I am more focused on the day-to-day, what I need to do in the here and now, versus what could be in the future, because I know that without the here and now there will be nothing in the future," Campbell said.
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"I think where I struggle with it the most is after a really bad session, so after I haven't hit the times that I was after, maybe I'm tired or my body's really sore. [I find myself thinking], 'Ah, was that good enough to get me on the team?'. That's probably where I think about Paris more."
Campbell collected a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle and won two relay gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, before having a brief time out of the sport.
Travelling through Europe with her partner, she rejuvenated and rediscovered her passion for swimming.
"I know that I will have given it absolutely everything," Campbell said, taking in her Paris Games dream.
"I will have left no stone unturned, so when I hang up those swimmers for the final time I can walk away from the sport with zero regrets."
