Swimsuit problems almost cost Galvez

A swimsuit shortage almost cost the Beijing-bound Felicity Galvez a berth at next week's Olympics.

The swimmer has revealed she was unable to find a Speedo LZR Racer suit that fitted her tiny frame during the March trials as she missed out on a 200m butterfly spot by 0.06 of a second.

The new outfits have been credited in assisting in the avalanche of world records in the pool this year and swimming in an old suit nearly cost Galvez a flight to China.

The Athens finalist in the four-lap event was fortunate that her former coach Alan Thompson made the surprise move of selecting the seventh-placed 200m freestyle swimmers for Beijing.

"No I did not have the new suit at trials because they did not have a size small enough for me," she said.

"So it is one thing I wish I did have ... I only started wearing it at world shortcourse (championships in April) and I broke two world records so it seems to be working alright."

Galvez admitted she felt disadvantaged not being in the super suit at the trials.

"I tried to keep it out of my head as much as possible," she said.

"I'm thinking 'OK don't worry about it, you've got to do your best with what you've got'.

"I tried not to let it affect me too much, but when you dive in and see seven other girls next to you wearing the new suit, you're like: 'Gee I wish I had one', whether it worked or not."

But instead of getting bitter about the experience, Galvez has gotten better.

She is using it to spur her towards a spot in Australia's full-strength 4x200m relay in China next month.

"It wasn't just about the suit. I wasn't very strong mentally," she said.

"I worried about things too much and didn't let them happen, and I was taking things for granted because I had always just made the team."

The AIS swimmer has made some massive gains since trials and is ranked fourth in the world in the 100m butterfly behind pacesetters Libby Trickett and Jess Schipper.