(CNN) They would sit in the back of the family car shuttling to and from their local swimming pool, dreaming of the day they represented their country at major events like the Olympics.
The dream came true for Australian sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, who boast three Olympic gold medals, five world titles and have five times finished on the top step of the podium at the Commonwealths.
They will very much be poster girls on the Gold Coast for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, with their every move pored over by their national media.
"It's a double-edged sword being an Australian swimmer," says Cate, at 25 the older of the pair by two years. "There's more pressure but people are excited about your sport, it unites people and it's just part of the Australian DNA. I wouldn't want it any other way."
The oldest of the Campbell sisters -- there is also the youngest sister Abigail and a brother Hamish, who suffers from cerebral palsy -- knows the spotlight will firmly be on her and Bronte at their home Games.
At the Rio Olympics in 2016, Cate was deemed by many a shoo-in for gold in the 100 meter freestyle but, having set Olympic records in the preceding two rounds, faded badly in the final and finished sixth.
"It's strange as in that moment my world stopped but everything around me kept moving. They blew the whistle and I had to get out of the pool, I went to warm down and had dinner.
"Life was happening whatever the result and I could either wallow in it or move on. As a swimmer, you work out the worst-case scenario and this was the rock bottom I was afraid of. Swimming, to which I'd given so much, had broken my heart."
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Olympic gold
For months, Cate was too ashamed and embarrassed about her shortcomings in the pool, unable even to talk about it with Bronte, with whom she had shared a house for three years.
"Giving her space was my strategy," says Bronte. "She was very upset after Rio and needed to work through that in her own time. She's come through that and is loving the sport again."
The Australian public assumed that it was Olympic heartache too for the younger of the two swimming siblings but, having been injured in the build-up to the Games, Bronte had relished the Rio de Janeiro experience.
"Most people expect me to say my experience in Rio was quite negative," says the 23-year-old Bronte. "But Rio was good considering my lead-up. A lot of people thought I'd be upset, that I had expectations to do better but I still ended up with an Olympic gold medal."
That's a reference to the sisters spearheading Australia to glory in the 4x100m freestyle relay, although Bronte admits 18 months on there is some element of what might have been at Rio.
"It's frustrating as I know if I hadn't been injured I could have done more," she explains.
Exploring Australia's Gold Coast
Australia's stunning Gold Coast will stage the 2018 Comonwealth Games from April 4-15. Here are the venues that will host the event on the country's East coast.
The heartbeat of this year's Commonwealth Games is the Carrara Stadium and its capacity has been boosted from 27,500 to 40,000. the venue will host track and field events as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. The arena is home to AFL team the Gold Coast Suns.
Views don't get much better than the dazzling Coolangatta beach, which will morph into the beach volleyball arena for the Commonwealth Games. Up to 4,000 will pack onto the shores of the Gold Coast for the action.
Australia is renowned for its sunny beaches and crystal seas, and Townsville, one of the three host locations outside the Gold Coast, is no exception. Close to the world-famous Great Barrier Reef, the Queensland city will host basketball fixtures at this year's Games.
Basketball heats will also take place in Cairns. The Center here has a capacity of 5,000.
Stunning sands will be easy to find for fans in Australia, which is hosting its sixth Commonwealth Games. Down on the seafront is the Optus Aquatic Center, where spectators can catch diving and swimming events.
This park will host the triathlon, where England's
Brownlee brothers will look to defend their one-two secured in Glasgow in 2014.
Home to the NRL's Gold Coast Titans, the 27,500-seat stadium will play host the rugby sevens. South Africa won in 2014, the first time a team other than New Zealand lifted the trophy. A women's competition will take place for the first time ever this year.
Better known as the set of a blockbuster movie, these Gold Coast studios will be transformed into venues for table tennis and boxing with a capacity of 3,000.
Situated in Labrador's Keith Hunt Park, this year's hockey venue has the luxury of two new, synthetic pitches. Australia has historically dominated this event, with the men triumphing every year since the sport's Commonwealth inception in 1998 and only an India victory in 2002 tarnishing the women's record.
Track cycling will be held in Brisbane at this 4,000-seat, $59-million venue, named after the retired Australian athlete who won two Olympic and five Commonwealth titles. The other Brisbane site of the Games is the Belmont Shooting Center.
A year-long project throughout 2016 helped revamp the trails and facilities of the Nerang National Park in preparation for the mountain bike competition.
Bowls has a long tradition at the Commonwealth Games, dating back to the inaugural British Empire Games -- as it was then called -- in 1930. The 2018 event will be held in a spruced-up venue next to the sea.
Weightlifting, badminton, powerlifting and wrestling will all be hosted in the shadow of the Carrara Stadium.
The Coomera Indoor Sports Center is the largest purpose-built arena that the 2018 Commonwealth Games has to offer. The 7,500-capacity venue will host gymnastics and netball.
Road cycling and race walking will start and finish on the picturesque Currumbin Bay. Pictured is a test event of the Cycling Road Race.
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After those Games, both took time away from the sport, Cate traveling to New Zealand, while Bronte took a trip to Vietnam, experiences they both relished.
For Cate, there were even suggestions she might walk away from the pool altogether.
"I don't think I ever considered retirement but I knew something had to change," she says. "I couldn't go back to the way things were but I couldn't move on as I didn't know what the future would look like."
Part of the process for Cate was working out what she would do when she eventually stops swimming competitively -- most likely to come after the next Olympics in Tokyo in 2020
"I'm now more prepared for life after sport," says Cate. "It's allowed me to come back to the sport that I love. I've got a new passion for it, and I'm a much better person for what happened in Rio."
Swimming with hippopotamuses
71 nations, 275 events
In one of the most striking moments of the 2016 Olympics, Miller dived across the line to win 400m gold, edging out Allyson Felix of the US.
A two-time Olympic 800m champion, Semenya has recently begun running in the 1,500m and she could compete on two fronts in April.
Capable of throwing a shot over 21 meters, Adams is the first woman in history to win four consecutive individual world titles in a track and field event. The two-time Olympic champion has only been beaten twice in major world events since 2006.
He may only have taken up the javelin aged 15 but "Keshie" Walcott had won Olympic gold in London before his 20th birthday. He followed up with bronze in Rio.
The Kiwi won pole vault bronze at Rio 2016 in her first ever Olympics and, having only recently turned 21, still has her best years ahead of her.
Widely considered one of the the greatest female squash players of all time, David was world No. 1 for a staggering 108 consecutive months, only losing her throne in September 2015. She will be looking for a third consecutive Commonwealth gold in April?
The most successful Malaysian Olympian in history, Lee was the world No. 1 badminton player for 199 consecutive weeks. The 35-year-old has taken home silver at the past three Olympic Games.
His nation's most successful gymnast, Englishman Whitlock has five Olympic medals to his name, including gold in the men's floor exercises and pommel horse at Rio 2016.
Skinner became the first Australian to win Olympic gold in a shooting event for 12 years when she triumphed at Rio 2016 in the trap.
Growing up in a shanty with no electricity, Tuwai used plastic bottles for rugby balls and a roundabout for a pitch. Now, as an Olympic gold medalist and captain of his country, the 28-year-old will be determined to add a Commonwealth crown.
Having never even played the sport until her late teens, Caslick was named World Rugby Sevens women's Player of the Year in 2016. Still just 22, the all-rounder is already an Olympic gold medalist.
The teenage freestyle swimmer beat an experienced field to take gold in the Rio 2016 100m final. He was the first Australian to win the particular event since 1968.
A world record holder in both the 50m and 100m, Peaty has made no secret of his desire to be the Michael Phelps of breaststroke, recently taking CNN Sport through
his secrets of swimming success.
When Oleksiak (R) won the women's 100m freestyle final at Rio 2016, many of the headlines focused on the woman she tied with for gold. Simone Manuel of the US (L) was the first African-American Olympic swimming champion in history, but it should not be forgotten Oleksiak will still be just 17 years old when she competes on the Gold Coast.
The first Welsh woman to win a Commonwealth swimming gold since 1974, Carlin has a great chance to retain her title in April, having won silver medals in both the 400m and 800m freestyle at Rio 2016.
Alistair Brownlee (L) may be the only triathlete to win two Olympic titles, but his younger brother Jonny (R) isn't half bad either, having taken silver at Rio 2016 and the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
With 11 world singles titles and seven Commonwealth Games golds between them, Foster and Marshall are the undisputed kings of lawn bowls.
The reigning commonwealth champion in the women's +75kg category will hope to improve on her disappointing showing at the past Olympics, when she blamed a lack of preparation.
Despite often being rivals in the pool racing over the same distances, the Campbells have rarely shown fissures in their relationships.
Long-term housemates, Bronte has since moved out -- "it's nice to have your own space," she says -- although they still spend hours together each day in training and the bond between the two of them as tight as ever.
Bronte says that Cate is the perfect, supportive older sister, who "surprisingly isn't that bossy," while their parents have always played a key role in keeping the pair's relationship strong.
"Mum and Dad made it so that we weren't defined by swimming, to think of yourself as a person, not as swimmers," says Bronte
The girls' mother, Jenny, and sister Abigail look likely to be colorful additions to the crowd on the Gold Coast, the pair having dressed up as Minions in the past to watch their fellow Campbells compete.
The girls learned to swim in Malawi -- often with hippopotamuses for company -- where their father Eric worked as an accountant.
The golds may have been lacking in the individual events for both in Rio but the expectation is for the Gold Coast to act as the fairytale for Aussie swimming golden girls.
"It would be wonderful," says Cate, the more ebullient of the pair while Bronte, seemingly more laid back adds: "To win a medal watched by the whole of Australia. What could be better than that? It's a continuation of the dream."