Thomas Fraser-Holmes is back from the wilderness of Australian swimming. That he has returned with such drive and vigour was never a certainty, nor was the fact he would return at all. Now he's a Dolphin once more, he wants to make it count.

The 27-year-old from Newcastle was one of the best stories from the national trials in Brisbane last month, where he made a triumphant return to the national long-course squad after serving a 12-month ban for missing a trio of Whereabouts doping tests after the Rio Olympics.

His third strike saw him miss testing agents by just 10 minutes following a dinner at his mother's house on the Gold Coast. Weeks later, he was hit with a breach notice and despite having previously returned more than 200 clean tests, a FINA doping panel had little sympathy for his tardiness.

Already in Europe before the 2017 FINA World Championships, Fraser-Holmes would travel back alone and over the next 12 months, get used to that feeling as he wrestled with his future. Retirement became an option but not for long, with Fraser-Holmes determined not to bow out on someone else's terms.

"When it all happened in 2017, there was that feeling of what next? Do I retire, do I take some time off then come back ... I just needed to take that time to think about what I wanted to do," Fraser-Holmes said.

"I knew fairly quickly I didn't want to retire on that note, a sour note and a negative note. It got to a point where I just had to ask myself whether I wanted to keep going or stop. And if I kept going, you can't do things half-hearted.

"I wanted to keep swimming for my reasons, to come back for a third Olympics and get something I don't have, which is an Olympic medal."

The nature of the suspension meant Fraser-Holmes could have no official ties with Swimming Australia, nor accredited coaches or squads. He wasn't even able to train in a pool at the same time as a squad, so he hit the public lanes and found himself zooming past part-timers travelling at half his speed.

Instead of hi-tech analysis from world-renowned coaches, he had his sister film his turns with a GoPro under water. He made do with what he had and found a way to motivate himself as he ground down the lonely hours up and down the black line.

"Tom looked after Tom. Legally, Swimming Australia had their hands tied behind their back. Before I got back in the pool, I made sure I knew exactly what I could and couldn't do. I couldn't swim in a squad with an accredited coach and I couldn't train at the same time as a squad.

"So I trained in the public lane. That was a balancing act in itself. There were some days people just jump in and swim 60 seconds for a lap and I'm doing 30 seconds for a lap... it put things in perspective a bit. It makes you appreciate how good you have it in the elite system.

"I was at a stage where I had my sister put a GoPro underwater to look at my turns, it was just about getting creative. And in that period, I found out what worked for me and what I enjoyed doing, rather than just being told what to do.

"It was one of those things ... I made the best of it and tried to turn a negative into a positive."

Fraser-Holmes missed last year's Commonwealth Games but slowly put himself back into the national conversation. He made the shortcourse team late last year but the goal was always the FINA World Championships, starting in Korea next week.

So when he stood on the blocks before the 400m individual medly at Chandler in June, it was the culmination of 18 months of soul-searching and dedication. Not only did he have to beat his rivals but the clock, with the swift qualifying times ensuring only finals contenders were on the plane.

In one of the sport's most brutal events, he found what he needed, touched first, clocked the time and was embraced when he climbed out of the pool by the legendary Dawn Fraser.

"That's why you put the hours in. When I started coming back, it was to achieve that goal. I had come so far, I wasn't going to let it slip by so easily. It was four minutes in the past 18 months," Fraser-Holmes said.

"It was just about executing. I wasn't just thankful to be there. It wasn't about that, or people saying 'he's done so well to get this far'. That wasn't enough.

"I wanted to get a place on the team and to earn it, rather than get a relay spot or a B Qualifier. I wanted to stamp that ticket for my confidence and know that I deserved to be there. I wasn't a charity pick."