With a staggering haul of individual medals between them — led by Ellie Cole (6 gold), Kayla Clarke (5 gold), Blake Cochrane (5 gold) and Matt Cowdrey (4 gold) — the Australian team has returned home full of confidence for the 12 months ahead.

Australian Head Coach Brenden Keogh, who was instrumental in developing the Para Pan Pacs concept to ensure swimmers had international competition a year out from the Games, said the meet had been a big success.

‘The idea was to build on everything a year out from London and get people performing across a number of events and racing well, and those things have all happened,’ Keogh said.’

‘The medals have not been a focus for the team. This meet has been about getting swimmers into positions where they believe they can compete at this level, and a few of those athletes who really needed to, they have stepped up and won races and learnt from that experience.

‘Ellie Cole is probably ranked number two or three in the world in three events now, and with 12 months to go that’s a great position to be in, while Kayla Clarke has performed really well considering she was injured coming into the meet.’

Cole came away from the Pan Pacs with an incredible haul of six gold medals (50-metre, 100 metre and 400-metre freestyle; 100-metre butterfly; 200-metre individual medley; and the 100-metre backstroke).  

Her time of 1:10.57 in winning the 100-metre backstroke was five seconds faster than her nearest competitor and just outside the world record.

‘I’ve never gone to a competition before and taken away all gold medals before, so I’m really stoked about what I achieved and where I’m at right now with my swimming,’ Cole said. 

‘It’s going to be interesting in London next year to see where everyone else is at, but the times from this meet give me a good idea that I’m in pretty good shape.

‘I hadn’t done a PB for about two years, so to set three at the Pan Pacs is a real confidence booster.’

Cole, who trains at the AIS in Canberra under the watchful eye of Graeme Carroll, has been focusing on her consistency and putting 100 per cent into every training session.

‘Last year I didn’t do as well as I could have and let myself down a little bit, so I’ve picked myself up and really knuckled down in my training and preparation for competition meets,’ Cole said.

‘Winning three medals (silver and two bronze) at my first Paralympics in Beijing was an amazing experience but now my whole focus is on winning gold in London next year.’

Carroll believes Cole is well placed to achieve her goal in 12 months time.

‘Heading into the Pan Pacs I thought she was a chance of winning four gold medals, so to win six as well as two silvers in the relays was an outstanding effort,’ Carroll said.