It's not the individual berth she craved but Libby Trickett is hoping she can be the X-factor the Australian women's sprint relay team needs in London.
Trickett is preparing for her third Olympics after completing her comeback to the sport by qualifying for Australia's 4x100m freestyle relay squad at selection trials in March.
While the 27-year-old admits she was slightly disappointed to miss out on an individual swim in London, she says having the relay as her only event has brought on an exciting new challenge.
With Alicia Coutts, Cate Campbell and Melanie Schlanger already assured of selection for the relay final on the opening night of competition next Saturday, Trickett must impress in the morning heats to beat Yolane Kukla and Brittany Elmslie to the final spot.
But she's hoping a combination of her experience at the top level and recent improvement in training will get her on the team - and she doesn't want to just make up the numbers.
With coach Shannon Rollason noting his relay team lacks a genuine "big gun" to make it a gold-medal force, Trickett hopes she can recapture some of her old form and help take the challenge to hot favourite the Netherlands.
"I would love it to be me and I'm going to do everything in my power to perform," Trickett said.
"I certainly believe I can go faster than I did at trials, which is obviously hugely important.
"... We're a very good medal chance but the gold medal is pretty much in the Dutch's hands - they have to drop the ball if we're going to step in there.
"But we're going to fight tooth and nail for that gold."
Trickett said she felt she might have missed her ideal window to push for an individual berth at trials by "four or five weeks" but had since made significant progress in training.
"Probably the fastest I got before trials, I'm doing that consistently now, which is exciting," said Trickett, who recently revealed she dealt with depression during her time away from the sport.
"I probably lost a bit of confidence after trials. I did everything I could possibly think of to get ready for that race and I didn't quite make it.
"You start to question yourself - you start to question your ability ... but having another season under my belt, I'm confident I'd be able to get back to that level again."
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