EXCLUSIVE: After coach's dramatic week his two Aussie stars take centre stage

nPARIS: With the coaching drama now behind us, all eyes turn to the pool as Elijah Winnington and Sam Short take centre stage in their quest for Paris gold in the 400m freestyle.

Winnington and Short were earlier this week forced to go into bat for under-fire coach Michael Palfrey when they were asked to determine his Paris fate after calls were made to send him home.

Palfrey was spared and will be poolside for a race that he thrust into the headlines when he clumsily backed Korean world champion Kim Woo-min to beat his Aussie charges Winnington and Short in a race that's set to be fiercely contested for medals.

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Despite continuing questions about Palfrey's presence in Paris, Olympic great Cate Campbell understands why he was allowed to stay and is backing Winnington and Short to do their bit on what looms as a golden night for Australia.

"From my perspective Mick Palfrey had an error of judgement, he was maybe excited talking to the Korean press and said something he'll regret but in no way do I believe he genuinely wants Koreans to beat Australians in that event," Campbell told Wide World of Sports.

"And with all the noise around it I know that the team has really pulled together. The athletes were involved in the decision to keep Mick involved in the team because he still has athletes that he's preparing to race in these games, so the athletes are obviously very comfortable and feel happy that Mick is staying, because if they weren't management would have done something about it."

In Winnington and Short Australia has two genuine gold medal shots, yet Campbell sees it as an open race that is likely to be decided by fine margins.

The dream scenario for the Dolphins is a 1-2 finish at an event in which Australia last won gold and silver 20 years ago - Ian Thorpe taking the gold and Grant Hackett the silver at Athens 2004.

Both have won recent world championships (Winnington in 2022 and Short in 2023) but neither enjoy outright favouritism with German Lukas Martens and Korean Kim looming as the spoilers.

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"The boys have some really stiff competition from overseas rivals and that event changes hands quite quickly and quite consistently," Campbell said.

"It's very rare to have someone who can dominate for multiple years. But Elijah Winnington was world champ in 2022, Sam Short was world champ in 2023, so those boys have proven that they can tussle with the best in the world..."

According to Thorpe and Hackett, it might take a world record to win the gold, with several of the top swimmers posting personal bests in the ball park of Thorpe's 3.40.08, which was bettered seven years later in the supersuit era by German Paul Biedermann who set the current world record of 3.40.07 in 2009.

"I think we've now got a strong enough field and a couple of individuals in there that could push each other to actually go under that 3:40 mark," Hackett told The Sydney Morning Herald last month.

"I think it gets broken. I hope it's by an Australian," added Thorpe.

If Thorpe's prediction materialises it will likely cap one of Australia's best ever night one performances in the pool.

"I think that we have a real shot at history," Campbell concluded.