Retirement is not an option for champion Australian breaststroker Christian Sprenger despite admitting it is unlikely he will get a medal, let alone defend his title at the world swimming championships in Russia.
Sprenger - 30 in December - is trying to regain his mojo after a rare shoulder tendon injury that had cruelly derailed his career in 2014.
Sprenger claimed the 2013 100m breaststroke world title but will be battling to even make the semi-finals in Kazan.
His world trials time of one minute, 67 seconds does not register in the top 30 for 2015.
It fell short of Australia's world titles selection criteria, ensuring he had to rely on discretionary powers to contest the 100m event in Kazan.
And he will receive no mercy from a stellar field led by Briton Adam Peaty who set a new world record in April (57.92).
"I am not here to win or get medals," Sprenger told AAP.
"I am here to produce as best I can.
"If I happen to do very well, that's great. If I don't, then this is another chance to step back and make sure the next season is the one I put everything into.
"But it is a mystery where I am at."
However, Sprenger said he was not considering walking away with the Rio Olympics looming.
"I will reassess how my body is but I am still very keen to go to the Olympics," he said.
"I am still very keen to try to have a hitout for one more year at 100 per cent."
Sprenger is a shadow of the man who dominated the 2014 national titles with world-class times, even strutting his stuff poolside in a gold tinged, custom made "champions robe".
But the former world record holder is still hoping to prove a point in Kazan.
"I think, ultimately, I'm a good racer and that is what I've come here to prove," Sprenger said.
"To have one more international competition leading into 2016 was the goal and I really have to take the opportunity to try and race at my best."
However, Sprenger admits his troublesome shoulder tendon has not fully regrown since surgery last year and he is yet to make technical changes that he had planned two years ago.
"Because the injury is quite odd, it was always going to be quite slow to build the tendon again," he said.
"I still want to be strong for Australia and I feel like I have time to do that ahead of 2016.
"While I have a few months, maybe a year left, I really want to make it one to remember."
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