Australians make a splash in Beijing

BEIJING (Reuters) - In an act of one-upmanship, the first public appearance of Australia's top swimmers in Beijing on Tuesday was a performance worthy of a gold medal.

Just a day after drawcard Michael Phelps snubbed the waiting media after he and his American team mates touched down in the Chinese capital by sneaking out a side door at Beijing airport, the Australians turned on the charm offensive.

Team officials rolled out all six of their individual world record holders, who spent almost an hour answering questions from journalists in the biggest media conference of the Games so far.

"I'm pretty happy to have six world record holders in my team...and it's good for them to, because it takes the pressure off individuals," Australia's head coach Alan Thompson said.

"This team is full of young people who have goals and aspirations to succeed. We've had a great preparation and we're confident of some good performances."

The Australian media have already declared this to be the best swimming team the country has produced, predicting they will better the seven gold medals they won in Athens four years ago.

Leading the way is team captain Grant Hackett who is bidding to become the first male swimmer to win the same individual event at three Olympics, in the 1500 meters freestyle.

Hackett is also a favorite for the 400 freestyle after the retirement of team mate Ian Thorpe but said his focus was purely on the 1500, the longest and most grueling race in the pool.

"Sydney was tough, Athens was extremely tough and this will probably be harder again," he said.

"But I'm prepared to go to the well one more time and dig as deep as I can."

Australia also boast the fastest man in water, Eamon Sullivan, who claimed the 50 freestyle record earlier this year, though their greatest depth is in the women's ranks.

Libby Trickett holds world records for the freestyle sprints and is tipped to win a stack of medals after collecting five golds at last year's world titles.

Jessicah Schipper (200 butterfly) and Stephanie Rice (200 individual medley) also hold records while breaststroker Leisel Jones holds two, in both the 100 and 200.

Jones has been leading the way in women's breaststroke since she burst on to the stage as a 15-year-old at Sydney. She has won four world titles and a relay gold medal but has not won an individual Olympic title.

"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," she said.

"It doesn't really matter if I don't have it, the cake is still nice anyway."

For a country surrounded by oceans, it is no coincidence that Australia have a proud record in Olympic swimming with only the United States having won more gold medals in the pool.

The two countries have enjoyed a long and intense rivalry and their clash promises to be one of the highlights in Beijing.

"It's not necessarily a rival from America we have to worry about," Hackett said.

"Traditionally, that's what the main rivalry has been but I don't think that will be the case this time, I have a feeling a lot of the countries will step up and eat into that gold medal tally."

(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)