Team England swimmer Liam Tancock believes that the early success of the home nations in the pool at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games will benefit Great Britain's bid in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Tancock, who is regarded as one of Britain's greatest swimmers, scooped his first medal of the Games last night - a bronze in the 100m backstroke final.
The 29-year-old, who only returned to action in January following almost a year out with a hip problem, is one of a number of swimmers who have contributed to England's 11 medals in the pool, while Scotland have five and Wales have one after two days of competition.
After qualifying for the 50m semi-final, Sports Mole grabbed a quick chat with Tancock to discuss his form and possible future success for the British swimmers.
A finish of 25.49 seconds in the heat - how do you feel after that?
"Yeah, pretty good. It's just about coming in after last night and having a swim. There will be a few Brits in [the semi-final], which should be good - obviously there's home support. Coming out for that semi-final should be pretty cool."
You've said before that you never put pressure on yourself and you felt that it was an achievement just making the team after your injury troubles - has that always been your approach, quite relaxed?
"I think if you asked anyone over my career, I'm one of those positive guys - why put too much pressure on yourself? I love to swim, that's what I do and I want to go out and swim as fast as I can and I do that every time I step out on the blocks."
Yesterday was a good day for England. Do you expect more medals to come?
"It was amazing, it was nice to be part of it. I know we're the home nations here, but if you look at how Britain's doing - we're really standing up. It's counting in separate medal tables, but if you put them together, we're a growing force leading into Rio."
Tancock's England teammate Chris Walker-Hebborn, who won gold in last night's 100m backstroke final, will also be in the 50m backstroke semi-final after topping the timesheet.
Danielle Joynson
