A rib injury may have derailed her aims for a strong summer but promising British pentathlete Rebecca Wain is back and raring to attack on two fronts.
Wain was full of confidence back in April as she lined up in Chengdu, China for her first ever taste of a senior World Cup competition.
Finishing 22nd overall, Wain was forced to battle through with an injury picked up in the fencing, although the diagnosis of broken ribs was only confirmed upon her return to Britain.
That brought her season to a premature end as she was out of action until June but, back on track, Wain has already set herself a series of goals ahead of the new campaign.
Short term the target is a return to the British team although Wain also has one eye on the 2014 Commonwealth Fencing Championships, that discipline one of her strongest.
Not part of the Commonwealth Games programme therefore not at Glasgow 2014, the Championships are held the same year and will too be in Scotland in Largs.
And Wain said: “I hope to get on the World Cup teams next year, that’s the aim. The second aim is to represent my country at the Commonwealths next year.
“Unfortunately modern pentathlon is not included on the Commonwealth Games programme but I am quite a high-level fencer for Great Britain and have got a lot of experience abroad.
“As a Scottish girl it would be a very proud moment to represent my country. I love competing for Great Britain, but you don’t get to compete for Scotland very often.
“And so it would be very special in front of a home crowd. It’s never what you want getting injured. It’s so hard being so fit and having that taken away from you.
“I didn’t realise how bad the injury was other than it was really sore. With it being my first senior World Cup I was just happy to be there even though it was painful.
“A lot of other athletes will have taken a rest but I am feeling fresh, it’s just about getting all my fitness back.”
And, while the injury may have frustrated her summer ambitions, Wain admits there was a silver lining when it came to her studies at the University of Aberdeen.
“It’s never a good time to get an injury,” she added. “But if I was going to break my ribs it didn’t come at a bad time as I was just entering my fourth year uni exams.
“I ended up getting a first-class degree in petroleum geology. With that little bit of extra time, having to stay in bed all the time, I was able to put my focus into that.”
© Sportsbeat 2013