Lani Pallister using surf life saving as part of her campaign to swim at Tokyo 2020 Olympics

She’s the daughter of a gun swimmer hoping to make her own mark in the Olympic pool - with some help from Australian surf life saving competition.

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If Lani Pallister makes it to the Tokyo Olympics it won’t just be her time in the pool which got her there.

The 2020 hopeful and daughter of former swim star Janelle Elford says she is deliberately putting herself through a lung-busting campaign of potentially 45 races over five days at the Australian surf life saving titles.

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It’s all part of a grand plan Pallister has to learn to swim and race at her best while fatigued.

“I am doing both under 17 and open events. It’s ridiculous,’’ said Pallister, 16, who on Sunday won her first event of the Aussies, the 2km open water swim championships.

Young swimmer Lani Pallister, the daughter of former Olympian Janelle Elford

“I think I’m doing everything in the under 17 including the ironwoman because there is no ski.

“Then heaps of open events. I think I worked out I will have 44 races if I make every race.

“But it’s good. It’s teaching me about race fatigue.’’

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Pallister is keen to make the most of her time in the surf, revealing she must put surf life saving on the backburner post the Aussies to concentrate completely on her Olympic swimming campaign.

“The swim title is the one I want. No one has ever won the 2km then the under 17 and opener swim title at the one event,’’ she said.

“This is my last Aussies until probably 2021 so I want it to be good.’’

Pallister, whose mother Janelle is her coach and father Rick a former champion triathlete, is hoping to swim the 800m, 400m and “maybe have a crack at the 1500’’ in Tokyo.

“It would be good to make the four by 200m as well,’’ she said.