In front of a deafening crowd at a rugby stadium that has been converted into a swimming thunderdome for the Games, Australia ensured it would be racing for gold in the women’s and men’s 400m freestyle finals and the women’s and men’s 4x100m relays.

All eyes were on Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle, with the Olympic champion and world record holder drawn next to her great US rival Katie Ledecky in the third and final heat. Ledecky (4:02.19) forged past Ariarne over the final 75m to claim early points but the Australian looked calm and composed to finish second in 4:02.46 and claim lane five for the decider.

She will have some Australian company as well; Jamie Perkins impressed to stop the clock in a personal best 4:03.30 to be fifth-fastest behind New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather and Canadian star Summer McIntosh.

“I just wanted to set up the first 100m, see how I felt, then race the rest of the race judging how the field was,” Ariarne said. 

“It’s crazy. The crowd is so loud for a heat session. Everyone is excited to be back at an Olympics. I got myself a middle lane so I am excited for tonight.”

Elijah Winnington (3:44.87) and Sam Short (3:44.88) were safely through in the men’s edition of the 400m, qualifying fourth and fifth respectively, in what could be one of the tightest finals of the evening. Elijah spoke confidently after his heat, saying he was ready to put it all on the line when the starter sets them loose in the final.

“I’m going to go for it and see what happens there,” he said.

“I’m going to push the boys out there and see how we go. I think it will be a real dogfight with 50m or 100m to go and everyone back home knows how that usually turns out for me, so I’m pretty excited.”

Emma McKeon produced a stunning anchor split in the heat of the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay as the Australians easily accounted for their rivals and qualified fastest for the final in 3:31.57, ahead of the USA and China.

Australia are world record holders in this race and are chasing a fourth-straight Olympic title.

After missing an individual slot in the 100m freestyle, Emma unleashed a 51.94 finale to ensure a spot in the final four alongside Meg Harris, Shayna Jack and world champion Mollie O’Callaghan. Bronte Campbell and newcomer Olivia Wunsch were the other heat swimmers for the Australian side.

The Australian men were sharp as well, winning their heat to be second-fastest through to the final on the back of a typically powerful anchor from Kyle Chalmers, who went 47.44 to overhaul American star Caeleb Dressel over the final 50m.

Jack Cartwright, William Yang and Flynn Southam, who set up Kyle with a 47.91 split swimming third, will remain in the team for the final. 

Chalmers, who has been battling injury leading into the Games, said he cherished the chance to race close friend Dressel and their rivalry always inspired him to perform.

“I love racing against him so much, I think it brings the best out of me, seeing him come into the marshalling room, then standing alongside him on the blocks,” Kyle said.

“I don’t want to let him win so it’s a very healthy rivalry we have.

“It felt very controlled and calm, which was nice. I just wanted to make sure we got through to the final.”

Earlier, Emma (56.76) was safely through to the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly, as was Alex Perkins (57.46), who celebrated her 24th birthday in style, as she went through in eighth place.

Joshua Yong (59.75) qualified in 12th for the semi-finals of the 100m breaststroke but it was a difficult morning for Sam Williamson (1:00.5), who was 24th after the heats and wasn’t able to replicate the impressive 58.8 he delivered at the Olympic trials in June.

Phil Lutton