An unlikely scenario from Down Under: Jodie Henry and Libby Lenton failed to make a regional 200m freestyle final, one because she did a Thorpey and toppled in at the start of her heat, the other because she was too slow.

At the Queensland swimming championships at Chandler, Henry over-balanced and was DQ'd in heat five after a 2:04 effort - slower than Shane Gould 35 years ago. Come on Jodie! Lenton had a better excuse for a 2:06.08 effort: she was suffering from a stomach bug. In which case, why bother mounting the blocks, you might wonder.

The race went to Bronte Barratt in 1:59.39, ahead of Linda Mackenzie and Melanie Schlanger.

Now coached by Drew McGregor, Henry, after what was her second false-start in a month. Such things have been the undoing of many a great athlete through the years.

Henry was unperturbed, however, telling Nicole Jeffery of The Australian: 'It's the first time I've ever been off the blocks quickly. I was in the zone and listening for a noise. I heard something before the gun and I went on the first noise. I haven't been doing that much in training yet so that's OK, for where I am at.' Right. Interesting Aussie trials ahead...

There was plenty of good stuff going on at Chandler too: no sign of weakness in Leisel Jones, a 2:24.96 in the midst of a hefty training phase suggesting fine form on the cusp of Olympic year, while Britain's Kirsty Balfour, in the midst of an eternal summer training camp with coach Fred Vergnoux, followed the world champion home in a solid 2:27.98, her recovery from injury back in the summer going well.

The same event for men witnessed another AUS-GBR finish, with Christian Sprenger clocking a healthy 2:14.61 heat and 2:12.73 final ahead of Balfour's training partnerKris Gilchrist, on 2:17.86 and 2:13.26. The pack building up over 200m breaststroke for men and women will dictate the need for fast qualification times on the way to the Beijing final next year.

In the age-group 100m freestyle, two Dolphins making strong in-roads into senior waters, Cate Campbell and Emily Seebohm clocked 55.51 and 56.42 in the final, Campbell having qualified in a slower 58.87 than Seebohm's 57.93. Again, another event in which there will be no room for stepping back in heats and semis in Beijing (and Australian trials, of course).

Jessicah Schipper won the 100m butterfly in 59.22, ahead of Ellen Gandy, of Britain, who raced 1:00.20 in heats and 1:00.28 in finals. Back in fourth, world champ Lenton, on ... wait for it: 1:01.61 in the final, after 1:02.39 in heats.

Zhang Lin, of China, clocked 1:47.97 to get the edge on the Aussie crew in the 200m freestyle, Patrick Murphy on 1:48.42, Andrew Mewing on 1:48.57, and Nick Ffrost on 1:49.30. Tough racing amidst heavy training as Australia works to build its 4x200 relay back up to full strength in the face of the American might that will surely head to Beijing favourite to help Michael Phelps notch up a golden tally of gold.