MELBOURNE, April 17 — The last three men’s 400 metres freestyle world champions will battle for the Australian Open Championships title on the Gold Coast later on Wednesday as Kim Woo-min, Elijah Winnington and Sam Short look to make a statement ahead of the Paris Olympics.

South Korean Kim, who edged 2022 world champion Winnington for the global title at Doha in February, led qualifying for the final with a time of three minutes, 44.75 seconds in the morning heats, pipping the home swimmer by 0.02 seconds.