SYDNEY, Feb 10: Libby Trickett’s quest to compete at a third Olympic Games received a major boost on Friday when the Australian swam her fastest time since coming out of retirement, a performance that made her feel less like a “fraud”.

The three-times Olympic and eight-times world champion retired in late 2009 before returning to competition last June but has been struggling to post competitive times since.

In the heats of the 100 metres freestyle at the New South Wales championships on Friday, however, she posted a time of 54.87 seconds, almost a second better than her previous post-retirement best.

Trickett’s huge smile betrayed excitement, and a little shock, at recording the time a month before Australia’s Olympic trials.

“It was quite bizarre really, I really didn’t expect that time,” the 27-year-old told reporters. “Almost 12 months ago I was going 1.02 in the summer series. Compared to that it’s awesome. —Reuters