Two of Australia's gold medal hopes in the pool at the Athens Olympics have been struck by a virus a week out from the opening ceremony.

Jodie Henry and Alice Mills have been isolated from the rest of the 42-member swimming team with an upper respiratory tract infection, forcing them to skip training sessions in the lead-up to the Games.

Both are key cogs in the Australian 4x100m freestyle relay which had been expected to become the first women's team since the 1956 Melbourne Games to win gold in the pool.

Henry is also considered a gold medal contender in the individual 100m freestyle and Mills a medal hopeful in the 200m individual medley.

While their illness was a setback, the Australian team's doctor Brian Sando said it was unlikely to affect their performances in Greece.

"They have had very mild temperatures, bits of sniffles, bits of sore throats," he said.

"It's really not a great interruption to their preparation. I don't think it's going to be of any consequence."

Both are believed to have caught the virus from their coach Shannon Rollason, who was ill when he flew out of Australia last week for the swimming team's pre-Olympic training camp in Sindelfingen, Germany.

"They probably did get it from me seeing as they're both my swimmers," Rollason said.

"I wish someone had of looked after me as well as we've looked after them."

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