On the advice of her coach Dick Caine, she began to concentrate on distance freestyle swimming, and in 1977 set an Australian record in the 400-metre freestyle at the New South Wales Age Championships, before setting another national record at the Australian Championships in the 800-metre freestyle, as well as winning the 200-metre freestyle. The following year in 1978, at the KB international meet in Brisbane, she broke the 800-metre freestyle record of East Germany's Petra Thumer by 0.18 of a second, setting a new time of 8:35.04, lowering her own national record by 10 seconds.
Following her coach Dick Caine's guidance, she focused on distance freestyle swimming. In 1977, she established an Australian record in the 400-metre freestyle at the New South Wales Age Championships and a national record in the 800-metre freestyle at the Australian Championships. Additionally, she won the 200-metre freestyle. The following year, in 1978, at the KB international meet in Brisbane, she broke Petra Thumer's 800-metre freestyle record from East Germany by 0.18 seconds, setting a new time of 8:35.04 and lowering her own national record by 10 seconds.