Australia could win '15 medals' in London

Australia is on target to win over a dozen medals in the pool at the London Olympics, head coach Leigh Nugent said on Thursday after the country unveiled a fresh-faced squad of 44 swimmers.

Half the team, comprising 21 men and 23 women, will be making their Olympic debuts with Leisel Jones set to become the first Australian swimmer to compete at four Games.

Australia finished second to the United States with 20 medals in the pool at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but Nugent predicts the gap is narrowing with China and France looming as big rivals for second spot in London."The gap has closed on us... the US are the big challenge, they have dominated swimming for one hundred years," he said.

"There are other players who are making it tougher for us to stay in that number two position.

The big movers are China and France." Nugent said the Australian swimming squad, without the experience of Ian Thorpe and Michael Klim, who missed selection at the trials, is undergoing a major transition.

"There's been a lot of change in our team, 26 swimmers on this team haven't been to an Olympics before and we've got six swimmers who haven't been on our national team before, that's a big turnover in an Olympic year," he said.

"I think realistically we can be around the total of medals we had in Athens -- 15.

The team will be spearheaded by 100m freestyle world champion James Magnussen (in the 50m and 100m), defending Olympic 200/400m individual medley champion Stephanie Rice, breaststroker Brenton Rickard and butterflyer Jessicah Schipper.

Sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell will become the first siblings in 40 years to be selected in Australia's Olympic swimming team after finishing one-two in the 50m freestyle on Thursday's final night of competition.

The last siblings to swim for Australia at an Olympics were Neil and Greg Rogers and Karen and Narelle Moras, all in the same team at Munich in 1972.

Triple Olympic champion Libby Trickett, who has swum at two Olympics, is part of the sprint relay team after missing out on an individual swim in the 50m freestyle on the final night of the trials.

Nugent said he was impressed with the strength of the Australian team, particularly in the relays.

"Our relay strength looks very good like it was in Beijing -- if not better, and our sprinters have led the way in terms of world rankings," he said.

"The racing for individual swims in London has raised the bar here at our trials and now the job is to do everything possible to best prepare for the Games in July." he further said. AFP