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TWO-time Australian open water champion Kate Brookes-Petersen will attempt an impressive hat-trick on Monday when the world championship trials begin at Sydney’s Manly dam.

The Redcliffe-based swimmer, who trains under Ken Wood, has won the past two national titles in both the 5km and 10km and has emerged as a gold medal contender in the longer event for the Beijing Olympics.

Next week she will aim to defend both titles and snare her second world championship berth in the wake of her disastrous first attempt last year when she swam off course in Montreal and lost her lead, finishing towards the back of the pack.

“I went down to look at the 10km course the day before the swim and should have checked it again on the day of the race because a buoy had been moved overnight,” Brookes-Petersen said.

“But it wasn’t just missing the buoy that affected me.

“I went out really hard and led for about 7km but I didn’t realise that there was a whole bunch of girls just swimming off me who were using me as a pace-setter. With 3km to go they gunned it and I had absolutely nothing left.”

Brookes-Petersen is hoping to become one of just 10 Australians selected to contest the world championships in Naples, Italy, later this year in the lead-up to Beijing where open-water events are being included in the Olympic program for the first time.

Olympic champion Grant Hackett and former ironman-turned-swimmer Ky Hurst are among a handful of pool swimmers who have indicated they might dip their toes in the new Olympic event for an extra shot at a gold medal.

Hackett is not expected to compete at Manly next week but Hurst, who is the reigning Australian 5km champion, will turn out in the 5km and 10km events. It is the first time Hurst has swum the 10km at a national titles and the part-time ironman admits the Olympic inclusion has attracted his interest.

“It opens it up for a new event to qualify in and it’s a better opportunity to make a team in swimming, and it suits the distance swimmers like me,” he said. “But I’m still working on my pool swimming and hoping to qualify for the Olympics in that as well.”