Injury is set to force Brooke Hanson out of her showdown with breaststroke arch-rival Leisel Jones at the World Cup swim meet in Melbourne this weekend.

Six-time world shortcourse champion Hanson injured her back while training and has pulled out of her two events on Friday, including the 100m breaststroke in which she'd have tackled Jones.

Hanson will decide on Saturday whether she will be fit enough to compete in the other two events she has entered - the 50m breaststroke in which Jones is also competing, and the 100m individual medley.

A rift developed between the two in Athens after Jones was preferred for the 4x100m medley team despite finishing behind Hanson by 0.01sec in the 100m breaststroke final.

Jones' then-coach Ken Wood played down Hanson's record-breaking feats at the world shortcourse titles at which the Victorian became the first swimmer to win five individual gold medals at one major meet.

The Hanson-Jones battle was shaping as one of the highlights of the three-day shortcourse meet at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, which swim superstars Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett are bypassing.

"I've been sickness and injury-free for the whole year but unfortunately I've strained my back when I was training on Monday night," Hanson said.

"Because I injured myself Monday I'm hoping that by Saturday I'll be a bit better.

"I'm still pretty tight at the moment but I'm hoping that by Saturday I'll be okay to do the shorter distances."

Melbourne-based Hanson is having constant treatment on her back in an attempt to compete in front of her home crowd for the first time since her medal haul in Indianapolis in October.

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