Liam Tancock thriving off home crowd after reaching 100m backstroke semi-finals

Team England's Liam Tancock has insisted that he is feeling relaxed about his Commonwealth Games campaign in Glasgow, despite suffering from an injury-plagued year.

The three-time Commonwealth gold medallist returned to the pool in January after recovering from a hip problem, which caused him shoulder pain for almost a year.

This morning, the 29-year-old qualified for tonight's 100m backstroke semi-finals with a time of 54.51s, just behind heat winner Mitch Larkin of Australia.

Instead of feeling the weight of competing in front of home supporters, Tancock has insisted that he enjoyed facing the crowd in his first race of the Games in Scotland.

"I never put any pressure on myself," Tancock told Sports Mole. "[Especially] going into a home Games, much like it was at the Olympics.

"Pressure, I think, is something that other people give you and you've got to accept it to class it as pressure. I just love to come out and swim and what better place to do it than in front of a home crowd."

Tancock's England teammate Chris Walker-Hebborn also qualified for the semi-finals after posting a time of 53.30s.