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2012 Standard bearers: Liam Tancock

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London Evening Standard

As someone born and bred in Devon, one of the things that I miss most about being based in Loughborough is the coast, so being able to get away from the cold weather in England and go training in Florida this winter has been a welcome relief.

The British Championships and the Commonwealth Trials are coming up at the end of this month, so our training group were working hard and it was intense stuff but it was great being able to swim outdoors and get a bit of sun on our backs.

I am extremely privileged to be able to train in the United States and the point wasn't to get away and get a sun tan. There was not much time to do anything but listen to my iPod and then have a paddle in the sea, not swim, mind you, as I'd done plenty of that in the day.

Being at our base in America meant I could go and see the new John Travolta film From Paris With Love before it has come out in the UK — it was easy viewing and a nice bit of action, definitely my sort of thing.

I also went to this fantastic Brazilian restaurant near our base in Fort Lauderdale. I love my steak and they cooked all different types of meat in front of you. Okay, I over-indulged a bit but I worked it off the next day in the swimming pool. The cold weather and the snow in Britain was certainly a shock to the system when we got back in February.

The forthcoming trials are very important but I have to admit that the London Games are already in the back of my mind.

There's a long process to get there and there are other things to achieve first but after being in Beijing two years ago, where I was sixth in an Olympic final, was a great experience. It might seem strange to say this but it's not always about the winning.

It's about the process and the enjoyment and if someone beats you on the day and if you've done your best, then so be it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fiercely competitive and want to win every race I take part in. But as a swimmer at an Olympics all you can do is go out and do your best time and break your national records. You can't control what anyone else does.

Of course, the dream is to win gold but there are some good guys out there.

What Becky Adlington did in Beijing by winning two golds inspired everyone excited in the sport. I'd love to be able to do that in London and to become a role model for people.

My main event in London will hopefully be the 100metres backstroke.

I hold the world record for the 50m but that's not an Olympic event. I never set out to focus on the backstroke, no one every really does, and I swam pretty much every stroke as a kid.

I am sure that it will be a help in the run-up to 2012 having a girlfriend who is also part of the British swimming team, Caitlin McClatchey.

We've got a pretty normal life, if you call normal getting up at 4am and swimming 40 miles a week! We are both big music fans and went to the V Festival last summer.

We camped out and saw Lady GaGa, The Killers, Pendulum and Dizzee Rascal. It was a cracking weekend and one I am sure we will be repeating again this year.