Kai Taylor secured passage to the world championships in Japan with victory in the men's 200m freestyle at the national trials in Melbourne, giving the 19-year-old a chance to replicate the feats of his mother, swim great Hayley Lewis.
Taylor initially missed qualifying for the final but was given a chance when Kyle Chalmers withdrew to focus on other aspects of the meet.
The fortuitous turn of events set the scene for a memorable moment for Taylor - and his family - who led at every turn to take gold from lane eight.
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Taylor's mother won the same event as a 16-year-old at the 1991 world titles in Perth, and funnily enough, she did it from the outside lane to upset American legend Janet Evans for gold.
Lewis could be seen cheering on her son from the stands? in an emotional moment, in what turned out to be pivotal win for her son, after initially misjudging his heat to finish ninth fastest.
"This morning was a disappointing swim and there was a little bit of tears but fortunately Kyle pulled out which got me an eighth spot and that took the pressure off me a little bit after my win at nationals," Taylor said.
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"I think he was always going to pull out but the fact that he did, it meant the world to me and I will definitely be sending him a message."
Taylor said he received a special message from his mother after he received the news about Chalmers' withdrawal.
"Even though she's a legend of the sport she just wants me to be happy," Taylor said.
"She told me to do my thing, be calm, but she did however mention that great things happen from lane eight."
While Taylor's time of one minute 46.25 seconds was just outside Swimming Australia's qualifying time, it's understood selectors are likely to allow him to swim the event in Fukuoka.
In other events on Wednesday night,? Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown posted the third fastest time in history in the 100m backstroke final. She was just 0.50 seconds off her own world mark of 57.45.
While Tokyo Olympian Cooper touched in 53.46 - just outside the qualifying mark of 53 seconds but will still be on the plane to Japan for the men's 100m butterfly.
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