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AAP
AAP
Sport
Steve Larkin

McKeon on cusp of Olympic legend status

Emma McKeon is eyeing a record medal haul at the Tokyo Olympics. (AAP)

Emma McKeon's coach is warning the swim star against being too greedy while on the cusp of becoming Australia's most successful Olympian.

McKeon could feature eight events at next month's Tokyo Games - and is a medal chance in all.

Australia's record for the most medals at a single Games is five, held by Shane Gould, Ian Thorpe and Alicia Coutts.

The nation's most successful Olympians are Thorpe and Leisel Jones with nine medals each in their careers.

McKeon, who collected four medals - one gold, two silvers and a bronze - at the 2016 Rio Olympics, is poised for rare air.

But her coach Michael Bohl says the 27-year-old will need to be meticulous about her gruelling program in Tokyo.

"It's a mistake to get greedy at the Olympics," Bohl said on Thursday.

"You have got to be very selective with what you do.

"We have just got to look very, very carefully at the sequencing of things and just make sure that we make the right decisions - because once we make the decisions, there's no going back."

The late-blooming McKeon has emerged as Australia's top freestyler - she could swim in the 50m, 100m and 200m in Tokyo.

The 27-year-old is also a medal prospect in the 100m butterfly and will be a key component in Australia's relay teams - the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyles, the 4x100m medley and the newly introduced mixed 4x100m medley.

Bohl will soon map out a definitive program in consultation with McKeon and Australia's head swim coach Rohan Taylor.

"We are just deciding what her schedule is going to be, it's just a matter of sitting down and looking at the program she will have," Bohl said.

"It's hard to know who ... is going to be the stalwarts in relays or if she will be required to swim in heats in relays.

"All those things factor in."

McKeon has emerged as the 100m freestyle pacesetter with the event's two fastest times in the world this year.

Bohl said more gym and less swim work for McKeon - who weights just 60kg dripping wet, which she often is - was a factor in her rise.

"She is a very light athlete," Bohl said.

"But the power to weight ratio is pretty good, so we have been trying to bridge that gap between those top girls' strength and her strength.

"We did a block in January of a month where she really got stuck into the gym and tried to focus more on her strength.

"We dropped the swimming down a little bit ... because when you're turning up to gym in a fatigued state from training, it's hard to get strength gains.

"So by dropping back ... she was turning up to gym with no depletion of the nervous system and a lot more energy and she was able to do a better job."

The other factor was confidence.

"She is getting more confident over the 100, a little bit more self belief, and I think that just snowballed," Bohl said.

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