Mollie O’Callaghan won five gold medals, while Kaylee McKeown was named female swimmer of the program after her clean sweep in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke finals.

“I am happy with what I have done this week but I have teammates like Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan who have broken world records this week,” McKeown said. “As proud as I am, I feel like I have shared that [award] with my teammates. I never thought in a million years I would be named swimmer of the year.”

Everyone is exhausted. Just ask Kyle Chalmers.

“I’ve left everything in the pool this week. I could not do one more day,” said Chalmers after his anchor leg in the relay that helped Australia not only pick up a bronze medal, but also qualify for Paris. “That’s as much as I’ve got. It’s a great way to finish the week.”

After almost breaking the 400m freestyle world record on night one in a terrific victory, Short celebrated a silver medal a few days later in the 800m freestyle.

But the one event Short really wanted to prove himself in was the 1500m freestyle.

After 500 metres, the 19-year-old from the Sunshine Coast was under world record pace and out in front. By the 1000-metre mark, he was back level with his rivals.

Short’s bronze medal time of 14:37.28 was a nine-second personal best. When you consider that Kieran Perkins (14:41.66) and Mack Horton (14:39.54) never swam quicker, you can understand why there is significant hype growing around Short before what will be a maiden Olympics.

This time last year, Short hadn’t cracked the magic 15-minute mark. He even believes he can take down Sun Yang’s world record (14:31.02), which was almost beaten by gold medallist Ahmed Hadnaoui on Sunday night (14:31.54).

Before the race, Short received a text from Grant Hackett, who broke the world record in the same pool in Fukuoka 22 years ago. His time of 14:34.56 is still the Australian record.

“He said, ‘enjoy the slog, get after it’,” Short said. “I really channelled that energy then. His mindset was always to break his competition. I’m still young and I feel I can take this to new levels and chase that 14:30 barrier.

“That’s the one I wanted to prove myself in. I love pushing myself to new limits.

“I put it all on the line. My plan was to get to the 1000 and see what I could do. I was grateful there wasn’t anyone really near me for the last 100 because that hurt.

“That last 100 is the worst by a country mile. The last 400 I thought I was going to vomit. I’m so happy I got that sub 14:40. I would have been happy with that if I came last.

“It’s time to celebrate. I’ve had the meet of my life. It’s going to be a good time I think.”

It was a special silver medal for Jack, who wondered whether she’d ever be able to compete again on the international arena after serving a drugs ban.

Jack has always maintained her innocence.

“This medal means more than anything to me,” Jack said. “I actually had quite a bit of a moment after we walked back when I saw Dean. I got a bit emotional because this does mean a lot to me. It’s been a long journey. I never thought I’d be back representing my country.”

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Australia had many athletes on top of the medal dais but there were also minor medals that meant just as much.

Forrester’s third place in the 400m individual medley was not only a massive personal best (4:32.30) but the greatest moment of her young career.

“I feel like this is a dream,” Forrester said. “I never would have thought I’d be able to stand here and represent my country let alone win a medal.”

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