INDIANAPOLIS, United States (AFP) - Australia's Brooke Hanson put herself in position to win a record sixth world title at the World Short Course Swim Championships by qualifying for the 200-meter breaststroke final.
Having one of the greatest global meets in history, the 26-year-old Aussie was third-fastest in qualifying for Monday's 200m breast final in 2 mins 26.37 seconds despite a sleepless night after taking two of her five crowns Sunday.
"I only had about four hours sleep last night," Hanson said. "I was so excited laying in bed thinking about five gold medals. This is very special."
Hanson won the 50m breast Friday in 30.20 seconds and won the 100m individual medley in 1:00.01 on Saturday before joining Lisbeth Lenton, Sophie Edington and Jessica Schipper in setting a 4x100m medley relay world record of 3:54.95.
The Olympic 100m breaststroke silver medallist returned Sunday to win the 100m breast in 1:05.36 and took the 200 IM in 2:09.81.
With five world crowns, Hanson has matched the record one-meet title haul set by China's Jingyi Le in 1993. Her four individual titles beat the old mark of three by American Jenny Thompson and Slovakian Martina Moravcova in 1999.
The only swimmers with six titles at a world or Olympic meet are Americans Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps, Aussie Ian Thorpe and East German Kristin Otto.
Hanson, who surprised herself after saying she was largely swimming the 200m breaststroke for fun, will swim for her sixth title in lane three, the same lane from which she won 50m and 100m breaststroke finals earlier.
"It's going to be my toughest race," she said. "I qualified in lane three. I have won from there. I'll just be getting in there and giving it my best shot."
Hanson has been rewarded after she missed the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and settled for silver at Athens.
"The journey so far the last 10 years has been a roller coaster," Hanson said. "What has happened at this meet and also the Olympics has been the icing on the cake for all of those hard years or work and those ups and downs.
"Obviously it has made me a tougher and stronger swimmer and that's why I have competed so well here. I'm really enjoying my swimming at the moment and that's why I have gotten the best results."
Forget Michael Phelps, the American teen star who won six gold medals at Athens but pulled out here with a back injury. It could be Hanson going for seven gold medals at the Beijing Olympics to equal Mark Spitz's record.
While that dream is unlikely, claiming Olympic gold at age 30 in Beijing is not an impossible quest for Hanson even though she has not committed to staying in the pool four more years.
"I'm taking it one meet at a time," she said. "I would love to go to Beijing and go one better and win a gold medal."
Hanson is already looking forward to the world long course championship in Montreal next July. And the Commonwealth Games in her hometown, Melbourne, are just nine months after that.
"There are a lot of goals to keep me going, a lot of meets to keep me motivated," said Hanson, who smiled when she pondered that path to Beijing. "After that, you might as well keep going."
"I think Brooke Hanson is going to retire when she doesn't enjoy swimming any more. That might never come."