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Alyson Rudd  (The Times)

There is a clear trajectory to the past few weeks of Liam Tancock’s life. He wins gold in the 100 metres backstroke in the short-course World Championships, is presented to the crowd at Exeter City’s football match against Aldershot Town, is invited on to A Question Of Sport and then, well, it is obvious, really – he will win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in August.

Tancock can certainly be classed among Britain’s realistic hopefuls for success in Beijing. “I used to aspire to the Olympics from a quite young age, but I didn’t talk about it openly,” he said. “I’m a chatty guy but I like to get the conversation off swimming. I’m a normal bloke. Whenever I go back to Exeter, I watch Exeter City.”

A week ago, at St James’ Park, he showed off his medals – a bronze, two silver and that gold. He knows that if he did achieve gold in Beijing, he would become a household name, but says that he does not mind.

“I want to get more people into swimming and that means more media coverage and more heroes in swimming,” he said.

First, though, come the practicalities of devising a winning time in a sport in which the difference between becoming a national icon and some chap who once made Sue Barker chuckle is four hundredths of a second. That was how far he was behind the winning time in the 50 metres backstroke at the World Championships in Manchester this month. It is barely comprehensible. “I know; you can’t stop a stopwatch that quickly,” Tancock said.

He entered his first national competition while training a relatively paltry three hours a week. “It wasn’t a lot, really,” he said. “I was aged 12 and winning. The older swimmers in my club were more excited about my swimming than their swimming.”

His parents, Kim and Tony, dutifully booked their flights to China and their accommodation when Tancock qualified for the Olympics a year ago, but, remarkably, cannot get their hands on a pair of tickets.

“They’ve been trying since March last year to find tickets for the swimming events,” Tancock said. “I wish it was automatic, but it’s not. It’s really difficult. They simply can’t get tickets yet.

“Tickets haven’t been released in swimming. They’d love to be there and I’d love them to be there, but if they can’t get tickets, I don’t think they’ll go.

“They can’t guarantee it will be on TV in China. I’d almost want them not to go because they’d be devastated if they couldn’t see my race.”

Tancock admits that British success in Manchester was because, in part, of the passionate home support. “The home crowd boosted us and that will be great for when London host the Olympics [in 2012],” he said. “I never really saw the advantage of home crowds until Manchester. When I walked out, the place erupted, it was brilliant. It was a nice, tingling feeling.”

That so many records were broken was also partly because of some revolutionary and controversial costumes, although Tancock believes that this was overstated and he probably knows this subject better than most swimmers because the equipment was tested at Loughbor-ough University, where he is studying sports science.

“I was involved in developing the Speedo LZR Racer,” he said. “I think it’s very psychological. It feels like a second skin and you have to be comfortable in what you’re racing in. It’s one less worry.

“But it wasn’t the suit that was breaking records,” Tancock added. “It was just that Speedo have signed up the best swimmers.”

On the other hand, being told that you are wearing something faster than skin must make the competitors feel like comic-book superheroes, which Tancock would be if he fulfils his potential.