Melanie Schlanger has raised further questions over the controversial decision to leave her out of the 4 x 200m relay in Glasgow with a commanding swim at the Pan Pacs to secure a spot in Thursday night's final.
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Schlanger hit the wall in 1:57.16 to qualify alongside Bronte Barratt, with Commonwealth Games champion Emma McKeon missing out as only two per nation can progress through to the decider.
It was the same rule that claimed the scalp of American superstar Missy Franklin, who battled through the water to record a time of 1:57.63, leaving her short of the mark as compatriots Katie Ledecky and Shannon Vreeland progressed.
Franklin was only touch-and-go to swim at all on day one after back spasms on Tuesday and never looked to travel at her best, although she managed to rebound and book a spot in the finals of the 100m backstroke.
There she will meet Australia's Emily Seebohm, the silver medal winner behind Franklin at the London Olympics.
"I would consider this morning a success. My times may not have been where I want them to be but in relative terms I'm fairly happy. I was able to get out there and race, which was what I wanted to do. There is still some discomfort but it's getting much, much better day by day," Franklin said.
"I was able to swim a little bit yesterday (Wednesday) and that felt really good to get back in the pool. This is my hardest day so the timing didn't work out too well. I just did what I had to do."
Schlanger had plenty to prove in her home pool and did just that on a windy opening morning of competition. She was miffed by her omission in Scotland after swimming the third fastest time by an Australian in 2014 and featuring in the world-record breaking 4 x 100m relay team earlier in the program.
"I just wanted to go out and have a good race. I just love to be in relays so hopefully that will put me in there," Schlanger said.
"You have to race fast to beat your own team-mates so I'm pretty happy with the result and the time."
Even with the emphatic statement, Australian coach Jacco Verhaeren refused to guarantee Schlanger a relay spot, although surely now the matter must be beyond doubt.
"No," Verhaeren said. "But she is showing great shape as she did in the Comm Games. She is without a doubt a great athlete. I'm happy to see here perform like this."
In other results for Australia, Thomas Fraser-Holmes and Cameron McEvoy qualified for the final of the 200m freestyle, Belinda Hocking joined Seebohm in the final of the 100m backstroke, while Mitch Larkin and Ben Treffers (100m back) and Mack Horton and Jordan Harrison (1500m) also progressed.
