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Nerves almost got the better of world champion Grant Hackett before his long-awaited comeback to competitive swimming at Brisbane - not that you could tell.

Anxious before contesting his first meet in nine months following shoulder surgery, Hackett still won the 400 metres freestyle at the Telstra Grand Prix series opener in 3min46.99sec - a time that would have comfortably won Commonwealth Games gold at Melbourne.

Not to be outdone, world champion Leisel Jones turned heads by claiming the 100m breaststroke in 1:06.29 - a time that would have been a world record a year ago.

Refreshed by the longest break of his career, Hackett predicted he had kick-started the most successful phase of his career.

“I was a bit concerned this week wondering what it was going to feel like racing again and being away from it for so long,” he said.

“It’s the biggest break I’ve had since I was two or three years old.”

However, Hackett claimed “that youthful enthusiasm is back” before claiming the 400m freestyle final in a time that would have easily eclipsed Scot David Carry’s Commonwealth Games gold medal performance of 3:48.17.

“I guess I’m a little bit ahead of where I thought I was at this stage. But in the middle part of the race I was probably going a little bit slower to make sure I had enough coming home,” he said.

“I actually did a faster last 100m than at the world championships (where he won 400m gold).”

The Gold Coast champion vying to become the first man to win three straight 1,500m Olympic titles at Beijing said he didn’t want to die wondering.

“I really feel my best swims are yet to come,” he said.

“If I even thought about retirement right now I would regret it. And I don’t think even after Beijing can I see myself retiring.

“I can see myself going a couple of seasons after that then reassess what I want to do in life.” Hackett is only contesting the 400m freestyle at the Grand Prix meet as he eases his way into a meticulous preparation for Beijing.

“I am probably in the last third of my career so I want to make sure I have done everything correctly,” he said.

Hackett said shoulder surgery may have cost him a shot at the Commonwealth Games but it had “definitely extended my career”.

“The shoulder hasn’t been a concern,” he said.

“The last time he (doctor) saw it (shoulder) was just before the Commonwealth Games and he told me not to come back - I said I won’t take it personally.” Meanwhile, Jones sent a warning to her rivals with her scorching 100m breaststroke time that was well outside her world record of 1:05.09 but still incredibly fast considering her heavy training workload.

Jones is preparing for next month’s Mare Nostrum series in Europe in the countdown to December’s world championship trials in Brisbane.

Only Jones and American Jessicah Hardy have swum faster than the meet’s time.

“For me 1:06 now is what I am happy with, it’s fairly normal for me,” Jones said.

“I thought on Friday ‘oh I have to race tomorrow’. That’s the only preparation I have really thought about (before the meet).”

Told that it would have been a world record a year ago, Jones said: “It’s quite exciting. It’s amazing how much the standard has changed in just a year.”

Jones also claimed the 200m individual medley title.