Only medals count at 'fastest ever' Olympics: Thompson

Only medals count at 'fastest ever' Olympics: Thompson

Australian head swimming coach Alan Thompson has called for focus from his athletes ahead of what he predicts will be the fastest and toughest Olympic swimming competition ever witnessed.

His comments bode well for a deluge of world records being shattered in Beijing where many competitors will benefit from wearing a controversial new piece of swimming technology - Speedo's LZR Racer swimsuit.

Swimmers kitted out in the form-fitting bodysuit have set countless new world marks in the months since its release in February.

"I think it's going to be the fastest ever," Thompson said in Kuala Lumpur where the hotly-tipped Australians are training and acclimatising before heading to Beijing over the weekend.

Six of the Australians hold world records for Olympic swimming events.

Four of them are women including Libby Trickett who is tipped to win as many as five medals.

"One would be wonderful," she said. "It's funny that I think we've reached a stage in our sport where one isn't good enough anymore.

"All athletes dream of Olympic gold and I've been very lucky to have done that. I've far surpassed any dreams I had of competing in my sport.

"But for me it is always about doing better than I have in the past. I would like to do better than I did in Athens. If I did, I couldn't possibly ask for more."

But Thompson is not getting too excited.

"It's who's standing on the dais at the end that's going to get the gold medal so we need to keep it in perspective," he said.

Traditionally the major swimming superpowers at Olympic Games have been the Australians and the Americans, but Thompson cautioned that other nations are rapidly closing the gap.

"The depth in world swimming these days is huge," he said.

"It won't be a two-horse race between Australia and the United States. I mean you look at countries like Great Britain, Japan, the French, the South Africans, they perform very solidly.

"They've made changes from going to the semis to the finals to lower medals to gold medals. There's a major shift in world swimming."