Aimee Willmott completed the major international set last summer – now she wants to turn appearances into medals ahead of the British Gas Swimming Championships.
Willmott’s outing at the Barcelona World Championships last summer meant she had competed at each the four major long course events in the four-year Olympic cycle.
First came the European Championships and Commonwealth Games in 2010 with an Olympic debut following in London 2012 and then her World Championship bow in Spain.
Willmott has a best of fifth in the 400m medley at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 while she was 11th in the event at the Olympics and ninth at the worlds.
The Commonwealth Games roll around again this summer in Glasgow and, with the British Championships a key event in qualifying for them, the 21-year-old is beginning to dream of success.
“I feel as though I’m going into a really important period for me. When I competed at last year’s World Championships that meant I’d completed the set of swimming in worlds, Olympics, Europeans and Commonwealths,” she said.
“I’ve had the novelty of being there now I want to be challenging for titles and winning medals. I’m 21 now, so the next three years leading up to Rio should be some of the best of my career.
“I feel like I’m really good shape and I’ve taken a decent chunk out of my times over the winter. Hopefully, that all point towards a successful summer.
“The Commonwealths are the main aim, and I want to go there and really achieve something. But you can’t get too far ahead of yourself and I have to put in the performances to make the team first. That’s what this week is all about.”
© Sportsbeat 2014