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Two-time Olympic champion Grant Hackett wants to do it better than ever but for Athens under-achiever Leisel Jones an individual gold medal would just be a cherry on top of the cake.
Hackett is chasing an historic third successive 1500m victory at the Beijing Games while the five other world record holders in the Australian swim team are seeking their first individual Olympic titles.
Not that any of them would directly say that.
The Dolphins have done their best to downplay their sizzling swimming trials and equally impressive times at a pre-Games camp in Kuala Lumpur last week to avoid unnecessary pressure.
But for distance king Hackett this is his chance to stamp himself as one of the sport’s legends and do something neither of his two biggest rivals, Ian Thorpe and Kieren Perkins, could ever do and win a hat-trick of Olympic titles.
And he wasn’t afraid to state his intentions.
“My expectation is to do it better than I have ever done it before,” said Hackett today.
“Better than the last two Olympic Games. (Sydney) 2000 was tough, Athens (2004) was extremely tough and this will probably be harder again.”
With fellow world record holders Libby Trickett, Leisel Jones, Stephanie Rice, Jess Schipper and Eamon Sullivan the Australian swim team have come to China with a goal of trumping their seven gold medal haul in Athens four years ago.
They increased the level of expectation with six world records at their swim trials but now face the difficult task of translating domestic form into the Olympic arena.
At the Athens Games four years ago only 35 per cent of the swim team were able to swim faster at the Olympics than their trials five months earlier.
It is a task which eluded both Jones and Trickett in Athens when they failed to convert the favouritism of being world record holders into gold.
Jones has not lost a major long course 100m or 200m race since her Greek tragedy but insists breaking her Olympic drought is not the be all and end all.
“A gold medal would just mean a cherry on top of this cake,” said Jones.
“I have already got the icing and I have already got the base so a cherry would be just a nice bit on the top. It doesn’t really matter if I don’t have it, the cake is still nice anyway.”
Trickett, who won Olympic relay gold in 2004, has three chances at individual titles after breaking the 50m and 100m freestyle world marks at the trials and falling just short of the 100m butterfly record.
Her Olympic haul has the potential to swell to five gold with two relay swims which would thrust her past Thorpe as Australia’s most successful Olympian with six gold medals.
However Trickett did her best to avoid talk of medals, records or expectations after getting swept away with the pursuit of gold at Athens.
“For me I had to change my attitude because it was all about the ultimate result and I became too focused on that rather than focusing on what I had to do to get there,” she said.
“I don’t think it’s any secret that most athletes their ultimate goal would be to win a gold medal.
“It would be completely arrogant of us to say we’re going to win.
“(But) we know if we do our job properly then we will have a very good chance and make it very difficult for everyone else.
“If I can put together the best race I have ever done before and do all the little key process things right then hopefully you get a good result a you walk away happy and proud.”