Emma McKeon will tackle the 200m double on the opening night of the Commonwealth Games swimming trials

EMMA McKeon will tackle the 200m double on the opening night of the Commonwealth Games swimming trials, confident she will not be sacrificing her pet freestyle event for a tilt at the 200m butterfly.

EMMA McKeon will tackle the 200m double on the opening night of the Commonwealth Games swimming trials, confident she will not be sacrificing her pet freestyle event for a tilt at the 200m butterfly.

McKeon had flagged the possibility of adding the 200m butterfly to her Games program late last year but she and coach Michael Bohl had waited until the eleventh hour to commit to entering the event.

But she will swim it on Wednesday night, confident it will not distract from the event in which she is most competitive internationally.

Emma McKeon has her eyes on a big prize. (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

“It was really just a decision about (whether to do it) here,” McKeon said of the Games trials.

“It’s a double on the first day with the 200m free which is my main event, but at Comm Games it’s after all my main events.

“I’ve actually only got four events here because I don’t have relays. So everything’s over in three days but my main focus is in five weeks.”

While she has not won individual Olympic or world championship gold, McKeon has arguably been more successful than those that have over the past two years, winning a combined 10 medals at the Rio Games and Budapest world titles to be Australia’s most consistent swimmer.

Pushing the likes of world record-holders Sarah Sjostrom and Katie Ledecky has left McKeon with a reserve of confidence she will carry through this week and into her Games campaign.

McKeon is feeling confident. (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

“I feel a lot more relaxed knowing that wherever I’m at I can just get it done, especially for trials and since that’s not the main focus, it’s knowing that I can just focus on racing, rather than times here,” she said.

“That’s what I need to do to make the team, I just need to finish in the top three.

“So I’m relaxed coming into it. It’s nice coming here and seeing the pool all set up, it makes me a bit more excited which is good because I’m not too relaxed, I can get the nerves going a little bit.

“So that’s making me more ready to race.”

McKeon faces a tough test straight up, needing to swim strongly in the 200m freestyle heats in what will be a packed field.

“We have to come top eight in the morning, so you have to be pretty switched on,” McKeon said.

Ariarne Titmus will also be racing. (Mark Cranitch.)

Ariarne Titmus is among those that will be challenging for a place in the 200m where she says an individual spot would be a bonus.

“It was an event on the side for me to pick speed up for my other events,” the 400m and 800m specialist said.

“But the success I’ve had in it lately means I’m going to target it a bit more seriously and I’m going to see if I can get that individual spot and obviously the relay which would be really exciting.

“I suppose the relay is what I want to do and the individual spot would be a bonus because it will be a big program at the Games if I have the 200m, 400m, 800m and the relay but any opportunity to represent Australia I’m going to take.”

Titmus said she would try to hang on to McKeon’s feet through the opening 100m and rely on her endurance background to try and come back at McKeon.

“Emma has a lot more speed than me, so it’s going to be an interesting race, she’s going to be going out a lot harder than me and I’ll have the back end,” Titmus said.

“It’s good to have someone to target.”

Originally published as Emma McKeon will tackle the 200m double on the opening night of the Commonwealth Games swimming trials