Swimming: Campbell, Magnussen head Australia`s team for Kazan worlds

Three defending champions will spearhead Australia`s 38-strong team named Friday for the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, in July.

Cate Campbell, James Magnussen and Christian Sprenger lead the team, which was chosen after the Australian championships and trials for the world championships in Sydney.

Magnussen, despite finishing second to Cameron McEvoy in the 100-metres freestyle, remains confident of winning the event in Kazan.

"That`s what we are working towards now," said Magnussen, who is chasing his third consecutive world title.

"No one has ever done it and it is something that keeps me motivated because pretty much everything in a 100 freestyle has been done at some stage.

"This is a pretty special goal to show that I have been able to stay at the top of world swimming for a number of years."

Campbell booked her ticket to Russia with an equal best time in the world this year, just six months after the 22-year-old underwent shoulder surgery.

"It was a smart swim more than anything else," Campbell said after her 100m victory.

"I used every bit of the training I had done and that`s what got me that time."

For Sprenger, the opportunity to defend his 100m breaststroke world crown didn`t come easily.

The 29-year-old came into the meet with just six weeks of training after undergoing shoulder surgery last year.

Sprenger finished second behind 20-year-old Jake Packard in the final, with both swimmers just a fraction outside the qualifying time.

"Our experience from 2014 showed us that we need two swimmers in each of the form strokes and given that Kazan serves as a springboard meet for the Olympic Games, we can`t take any chances," head coach Jacco Verhaeren said.

Grant Hackett, at 34, has qualified for his sixth world championships team, more than six years after retiring from swimming and after just six months back in the pool.

Hackett surpassed all his own expectations to grab a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle before finishing fourth in the 200m freestyle, securing a relay spot on the team for worlds.

"It`s a different sort of achievement," Hackett said.

"If you`d asked me 10 years ago about making a relay team and that being the only thing I was on the team for, I would have been bitterly disappointed. But now it`s like one of the biggest achievements of my life to make that team."

Australia

Men: Matthew Abood, Joshua Beaver, Kyle Chalmers, Ashley Delaney, Tommaso D`Orsogna, Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Grant Hackett, Jayden Hadler, Kurt Herzog, Mack Horton, Grant Irvine, Mitch Larkin, James Magnussen, Cameron McEvoy, David McKeon, David Morgan, Jake Packard, Daniel Smith, Christian Sprenger, Benjamin Treffers. 

Women: Jessica Ashwood, Hayley Baker, Bronte Barratt, Bronte Campbell, Cate Campbell, Brittany Elmslie, Madeline Groves, Emma McKeon, Taylor McKeown, Keryn McMaster, Leah Neale, Kylie Palmer, Emily Seebohm, Brianna Throssell, Lorna Tonks, Tessa Wallace, Madison Wilson, Melanie Wright.