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Sarah Shephard   (Sport Magazine)

As one half of British swimming's golden couple (Caitlin McClatchey is the other), Liam Tancock is under some pressure to outperform the missus in Beijing...

"It means that maybe a few more people will know the name Liam Tancock now, but that's good for me and for British swimming. The pressure comes mostly from yourself, though. There will obviously be a lot of media hype around the Games, and it can be easy to get yourself worked up about it. Personally, I don't feel the need to. "

But, as a world champion, you won't be happy with anything less than gold, right?

"Actually, I don't think I'll be disappointed with anything. I really enjoy what I'm doing, and the top thing you can do within the swimming world is to compete at the Olympics. I'm just looking forward to going there and doing my best."

So, if it's not you, who do you expect to be standing atop the medal podium?

"The favourite is probably the American world record-holder, Aaron Peirsol. He's been at the top of his game for the past four years, but then there's Michael Phelps, who the world has heard lots about. I'm always keeping an eye out for the others, of course, but I can only swim my own race; it's about concentrating on yourself and doing the best you can to get results. Obviously, you do look at opposition around the world - and there have been some very quick times this year."

"What you wear is very psychological; it's a bit like a swimmer who shaves down to feel smoother through the water. The Speedo suit does a similar thing - you think you're wearing the best suit, which helps. There's a lot of technology behind it as well, but for me it's mainly psychological. If you feel comfortable in a suit, then you'll swim fast - it doesn't matter what it is."

And, mentally, the British squad must be in good shape after some good results this year. What do you put that down to?

"There have been disappointments going back a few years, but Bill Sweetenham [the former GB performance director] put a lot of good plans in place, and we've been following them through. There's a good group of young swimmers coming through now, and they're taking it to the older guys. We have a mixed bag in terms of age - the youngest is 16 and the oldest is 37, so it's a good mix of youth and experience."

"I don't know about that, it would be quite a long time. I love the sport and want to see it through until 2012; the Olympics is one thing, after all, but having it on home soil will be something else. My main focus at the moment is Beijing, but once that's out of the way I'll refocus my next four years on looking forward to London."

On to more important matters... you train in the same group as your woman, the lovely Caitlin McClatchey. How does that work?

"Really well, actually. We're coached by the same person, but we're completely different athletes - she's a distance swimmer, whereas I'm a sprinter. So, although we'll be in the pool at the same time, we rarely do the same set. Out of the pool, we just do normal things - I guess we're a normal couple. We understand what each other goes through, but we tend not to talk about swimming that much. If it was just swimming, swimming, swimming, you'd never be able to get away from it."