Rate it!

5 votes

When Caitlin McClatchley edged out Australian swimming sensation Libby Lenton to take Commonwealth gold in the 200m freestyle in Melbourne back in 2006, Britain knew they had unearthed a real medal hope for Beijing.

The Northampton swimmer had burst on to the scene the previous year when she won 400m bronze at the World Championships in Montreal, but her victory in Melbourne showed she was ready to jump to the next level.

When she then backed up her gold in the 200m with a second success in the 400m, it became inevitable that pre-Olympic hype would surround McClatchley.

However, at last year's World Championships, again in Melbourne, she failed to make the final of the 400m and then only finished seventh in the 200m, and in the fickle world of sport, an athlete's stock can fall as quickly as it rises.

Nevertheless, opponents should discount McClatchley at their peril, with the 22-year-old explaining that her performance at last year's World Championship was not all that it seemed.

"I'd been ill before the World Championships with flu so I knew that I wasn't going to be at my best," she told Eurosport.

"But still my times were better than I thought they would be so I have looked to move on from that and I'm really confident.

"I've worked to get my immune system stronger by taking vitamins and supplements, while I've also been working on my strength and condition.

"The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world, so you want to do the best you have ever done in that one event, but you just have to try and focus on that and not get distracted by everything else that surrounds it."

McClatchley is cautiously optimistic that it could be a big Games for the British swimming team.

Her boyfriend Liam Tancock is a medal hope in the 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley, and McClatchley believes that others can step up too.

"There is a good mix in the team of older, more experienced athletes and also lots of younger competitors who will be there at their first Olympics, and they are always people who have a great attitude, a fresh attitude," she said.

"We can't predict any medals because we don't know what the other countries like China and the US will do, but I have lots of confidence in the ability of my team-mates, and I feel that we can really make a positive impact."

Confident and self-aware, McClatchley exhibits the type of attitude you would hope to see from an athlete in Olympic year, and if she needs any further advice she need not look far.

Her uncle Alan McClatchley won an Olympic bronze back in 1976, while her parents both represented Scotland at Commonwealth Games level, so it was perhaps inevitable she would become a swimmer.

"I suppose I never really had a choice," she jokes.

"My parents didn't force me into swimming or anything but I was aware that I had a strong family background in the sport so that has spurred me on into thinking that I could become a great sportsperson someday."

That someday could very well come in China this summer.

FULL TEAM:

Men:

50m freestyle: Mark Foster

200m freestyle: Ross Davenport; Robert Renwick

400m freestyle: David Carry; Dean Milwain

1500m freestyle: David Davies; Richard Charlesworth

100m backstroke: Liam Tancock; Gregor Tait

200m backstroke: Gregor Tait; James Goddard

100m breaststroke: Chris Cook; Kristopher Gilchrist

200m breaststroke: Kristopher Gilchrist; James Kirton

100m butterfly: Michael Rock; Todd Cooper

200m butterfly: Michael Rock

200m individual medley: James Goddard, Liam Tancock

400m individual medley: Thomas Haffield; Euan Dale

4x200m freestyle relay: Ross Davenport; Robert Renwick; David Carry; Andrew Hunter; Ben Hockin

4x100m freestyle relay: Simon Burnett; Adam Brown

10km open water swimming: David Davies

Women:

50m freestyle: Fran Halsall

100m freestyle: Caitlin McClatchey; Fran Halsall

200m freestyle: Caitlin McClatchey; Rebecca Adlington

400m freestyle: Rebecca Adlington; Jo Jackson

800m freestyle: Rebecca Adlington, Cassie Patten

100m backstroke: Gemma Spofforth; Elizabeth Simmonds

200m backstroke: Gemma Spofforth; Elizabeth Simmonds

100m breaststroke: Kate Haywood; Kirsty Balfour

200m breaststroke: Kirsty Balfour

100m butterfly: Fran Halsall; Jemma Lowe

200m butterfly: Jemma Lowe; Ellen Gandy

200m individual medley: Hannah Miley; Keri-Anne Payne

400m individual medley: Hannah Miley; Keri-Anne Payne

4x100m freestyle relay: Caitlin McClatchey; Fran Halsall; Julia Beckett; Jessica Sylvester

4x200m freestyle relay: Caitlin McClatchey; Rebecca Adlington; Jo Jackson; Mel Marshall; Fran Halsall

10km open water swimming: Cassie Patten

BEIJING MEDAL TARGET: 3

Sean Fay / Eurosport