Freya Anderson, Aimee Wilmott, Kieran Bird, Harriet Jones and Joe Litchfield hit Tokyo 2020 qualifying standards on the opening day of the British Swimming Selection Trials.
The prize available to swimmers this week could hardly be bigger, with those finishing first and second in their event under consideration times eligible for Olympic selection.
Anderson is foremost among a clutch of young female swimmers making the most of an extra year's preparation and she did enough to punch an individual 200m freestyle spot.
The 20-year-old, who has shot to third on the British all-time list in the event, touched the wall in 1:56.80 for victory to meet criteria for a Games debut.
"It felt really good to get under the time. My personal best is from a year ago and it's good to be back where I was," said Anderson.
If most expected Anderson to qualify, then few will have marked their card with Kieran Bird's name in the 400m freestyle.
Bird started out as a butterfly swimmer with his club Bicester Blue Fins and represented Team GB at the European Youth Olympic Festival.
The youngster mowed down favourites like Tom Dean and Daniel Jervis to cut a full five seconds off his lifetime best and meet requirements for a dream Olympic debut.
"I'm over the moon," said Bird. "All of the years I've been swimming have just paid off, and I'm so, so happy.
"My mum and dad can't be here but I can't wait to call them because they've sacrificed so much over the years."
An athlete at the other end of the experience scale is Aimee Wilmott and she needed ever ounce of her inner steel to do the job in the 400m individual medley.
Wilmott, who represented Team GB at London 2012 and Rio 2016, saw her faith in continuing into an 11th year on the world stage in the sport repaid with four-stroke victory.
Racing against the clock, she touched the wall in 4:35.70 which was nearly a second under the consideration time.
"It was tough," she said. "I just tried to get into my own race and I thought 'I'm dying, but I've gone for it' and I had to give myself a chance.
"After Rio, I didn't think I'd go for Tokyo and now it's been a five-year cycle. It's been strange, but I'm really happy to have got the time and hopefully I can finish on a high in Tokyo."
Then came the small matter of Adam Peaty, who has already been selected for Team GB for the Games but never misses an opportunity to write another chapter of 100m breaststroke history.
After blazing to 57.70 in the morning's heats, the reigning Olympic champion clocked a barely believable 57.39 to complete the set of the event's 20 fastest-ever times.
"I've had a lot going on with a kid and moving house, but it's good to come here and consolidate the top 20 ever," he said.
"The execution was perfect, and I'm way ahead of where I should be now. I can take a lot of confidence into the summer and the Olympics, to have Great Britain on my back and show the world we're a force to be reckoned with."
Meanwhile, Cardiff's Harriet Jones was another to summon the form of her life and take victory inside the necessary time in the 100m butterfly.
Jones, who represented Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, took seven-tenths of a second off her personal best 57.79 to hold off experienced internationalists Laura Stephens and Alys Thomas.
"I've always wanted to represent Great Britain so I'm super happy now," she said.
Duncan Scott, who like Peaty has been pre-selected for the Games, thumped 0.75 seconds off the national 200m individual medley record in an imposing show of form.
Scott went under the guideline time with 1:57.77 in the heats and then crashed through Max Litchfield's British record, which has stood since 2017.
Max's brother Joe also did enough for an individual spot, clocking 1:57.74.
Scott said: "I'm just grateful to be here, it's our first tapered, long-course meet since 2019. I was delighted with the swim."
Sportsbeat 2021