Kaylee, 22, is targeting as many as six events for this year’s Olympic Games. She hopes to add the 200m individual medley to the defence of her 100m and 200m backstroke titles, and is also making a play for inclusion in the gold medal favourite 4 x 200m freestyle relay team, in addition to the 4 x 100m medley relay and mixed medley relays.

She rehearsed part of that challenge at the NSW Open Swimming Championships in Sydney over the weekend, backing up in three events in Sunday night’s final session, having already set world-class times to win the 200m backstroke (2:04.21 on Friday) and the 100m backstroke (57.57sec on Saturday).

On Sunday, she combined the 200m freestyle, the 200m individual medley and 50m backstroke in quick succession to replicate the kind of challenge she may face in Paris, where, if all goes to plan, she will have just 50 minutes between the 200m backstroke final and the 200m individual medley semi-finals on Day 7 of the swimming program.

“It's definitely a hard double,’’ Kaylee said.

But in Sydney she passed a similar test with flying colours. She finished fourth in a stacked 200m freestyle final behind the world record-holder Mollie O’Callaghan, Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus and the in-form Lani Pallister in a personal best time (1:56.04) to press her claims for a relay berth. She then returned to win the 200m individual medley in a time (2:08.84) that would have won the bronze medal at the recently-concluded world championships in Doha. Her win in the 50m backstroke (27.25sec) merely underlined her durability.

Kaylee has always had the knack of swimming fast throughout the year, not just when tapered for a major championship. Both her 100m and 200m backstroke swims on the weekend would have been quick enough to win the gold medals in Tokyo.

“Every race for me is an opportunity to get up and try my best and see where I'm at”, she said. “I'm always learning and I'm always trying to find something to improve on.”

Her coach at the Griffith University squad on the Gold Coast, Michael Bohl, says Kaylee’s consistent excellence in racing reflects her training. He can count on one hand the number of bad sessions she has put in since the Tokyo Olympics.

He regards her as the most consistent trainer he’s ever worked with, a big statement from the coach of other multiple Olympic gold medallists Stephanie Rice and Emma McKeon.

“She gives you everything she’s got all the time,’’ Bohl said.

He is convinced that Kaylee will thrive on the challenge of adding the 200m individual medley to her Olympic program, and that she will be highly competitive.

“If there’s anyone who can double up, it’s Kaylee,’’ he said.

“Speaking as someone who’s coached an Olympic gold medallist in that event (Rice), I have seen what (Kaylee) does in training and I think she’s capable of being on that podium.”

Despite her pre-eminence in world backstroke, Kaylee is facing tough competition from her long-term American rival Regan Smith, now being guided by Michael Phelps’ former coach Bob Bowman.

She and Smith are on similar trajectories on times this year but Kaylee welcomes the competition.

“I think that's what makes the sport exciting,’’ she said. “I'm happy that she's pushing really hard. I've got something to chase now and the target’s kind of off my back. So I've got to train hard.”

Success in Paris would also be sweet because Kaylee’s family will be able to attend, after watching her Tokyo triumphs on screen in Australia due to the pandemic.

She is putting no limits on what she can achieve at her second Games, presuming she safely navigates the sudden-death Australian Olympic trials in Brisbane in June.

“I don't think anything's crazy to be honest with you,’’ she said. “I think if you can think about it and dream about it, you have every opportunity and every kind of motivation to get up there and try to be one of the best.”

Nicole Jeffery