CATE Campbell has made a dream comeback to elite swimming, propelling Australia's 4x100m freestyle relay team to a world record and Commonwealth Games gold medal.
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The Australian quartet shaved 0.6 seconds of the nation's previous world-best mark, set when they won gold at the Rio Olympics two years ago, to clock three minutes 30.05 seconds.
Cate Campbell unleashed a blistering last leg - she clocked 51 seconds for her 100m - to cap a satisfying Thursday night for the host nation at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.
Australian swimmers claimed two gold, three silver and four bronze medals.
Mack Horton won the men's 400m freestyle but almost lost his emotions after eclipsing teammate Jack McLoughlin, who took silver.
Emerging teenager Ariarne Titmus claimed the silver and Emma McKeon - who was part of the stunning relay - the bronze in the women's 200m freestyle.
Also winning bronze were Matt Wilson (men's 200m breaststroke) and Blair Evans (women's 400m individual medley).
And Australian para-swimmers Liam Schluter (silver) and Daniel Fox (bronze) added medals in the men's S14 200m freestyle.
But the freestyle relayers stole the show, riding waves of support from a parochial 10,000-strong crowd.
After Shayna Jack's opening leg of 54.03, Bronte Campbell gave the host nation the lead with a 52.03 split before McKeon's 52.99.
Cate Campbell, in her return to elite competition after taking a year off following the Rio Olympics, then tapped into the energy from the raucous home crowd to lead home Canada and England.
"This is the stuff of dreams," she said.
"To have it become a reality is something I won't take for granted.
"As a perfectionist, we don't stop and appreciate the rare incredible moments, and this is one of them.
"To come back from a year off and be the best in the world ... is a pretty special moment."
Her relay teammate McKeon collected relay gold but earlier lost her audacious bid to join Australian swim legends Ian Thorpe and Susie O'Neill by winning six golds at a single Commonwealth Games.
McKeon's bronze in the 200m freestyle blew that chance out of the water, trumped by Canadian Taylor Ruck, who also tipped out fellow 17-year-old Titmus.
Horton's gold medal was expected - it follows his Olympic gold over the distance in Rio.
"I probably feel more emotion winning here than in Rio because the whole crowd is cheering - that didn't happen so much in Rio," Horton said.
"Rio is cool. But home crowd is always going to win - having 10,000 people cheering for you is pretty unreal."
Australian Associated Press
