If Georgia Davies had been told this time last year that she would become a Commonwealth champion, a three-time European medallist and a history-maker for Wales within 12 months, the British swimmer would have been in disbelief.
The 24-year-old achieved her best results in 2014 with gold in the 50m backstroke final in Glasgow, which put her and teammate Jazz Carlin in the history books by becoming the first two Welsh female Commonwealth gold medallists for 40 years.
As well as her success in Glasgow, which included silver in the 100m backstroke final, Davies went on to reach the podium three times on her European Championships debut in Berlin.
Recently, Sports Mole caught up with Davies to reflect on her season in the pool and why the Rio 2016 Olympics are not far from her mind.
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You achieved your best international results this year. If you look back, would you say that everything has gone to plan or has this season been better than you expected?
"This is the best year that I have ever had. I don't know if I can put my finger on one thing, but I moved to Loughborough last September and it's been a transition year. The training has been quite different to what I've had in the past, so working with a new coach and a new squad [has contributed]. I'm just really enjoying swimming as well."
At the Commonwealth Games, Wales were given an ambitious six-medal target - were you always confident that you would meet that?
"Although our team was quite small compared to the England team, I knew we'd got ourselves some really talented athletes. You never know what will happen on the day because obviously you don't know what the other countries are going to do and things like that, even if your personal best should get on the podium. But I think we were quite confident that we'd be able to come back with a few medals. I think it was the most successful team in a long time and it was great to be part of."
You said that Jazz Carlin's performance in Glasgow inspired you to win the 50m backstroke final - with that in mind, did you also feel extra motivation at the Commonwealths because you were representing Wales?
"I don't know if there was extra motivation because you always want to do your best and try to get on that podium. The Welsh team, because it was quite small and a lot of us have been kicking around since Delhi and even since Melbourne, I think you get familiar with people and you get really comfortable and it's a nice atmosphere to be in. I watched Jazz's final, I saw her and I was so emotional.
"I remember actually watching her win a medal in Delhi and then feeling inspired as well because we trained together for about seven years with Bud McAllister in Swansea. We've known each other for so long and it's great to see when a teammate and a friend does so well, and it just gives you the confidence of, 'if she can do it, I can do it as well'. It was an amazing experience."
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Yourself and Jazz made history for Wales. How does that make you feel, especially considering the message it sends for women's sport?
"It's quite weird! I wasn't aware that there hadn't been a medal for women in the sport for 40 years because I just turn up every day and do my training and things like that and I don't really know these kind of facts. So when they said that about Jazz, it really puts things into perspective. It's such a great achievement she did and then for me to be able to follow, it's crazy. Hopefully it does inspire other women because that would ultimately be amazing."
At the European Championships you just missed out on gold in the 50m backstroke final. How did it feel to come second to Fran Halsall because you're good friends aren't you?
"Yeah, we're really good friends - we train together, we live together so it's good. We push each other on in training all the time. Obviously [the 50m backstroke] is not her main event, she's more 50m freestyle. Also, she's pretty amazing at 50m butterfly - she's just an all-round sprinter. I think after the Commonwealth Games, winning the gold - that was amazing, and it would have been awesome if I could have backed that up at the Europeans as well, but I think if you'd asked me the year before what my ambitions and goals were for that year, I don't think I would have dreamt that I'd reach the podium twice.
!I can't really turn my nose up at a silver medal and it's great that the gold went to my teammate and friend - we're both on the podium for Loughborough and for Britain together, so it couldn't have gone any better really, other than if I'd won I suppose, but I'm not going to complain at all!"
You mentioned how close you and Fran are, but are you quite competitive with one another?
"Yeah, definitely. I think we're all really competitive, it's just natural. I don't think you can get to the top level if you're not competitive because we're just always trying to improve ourselves and be better in everything that we do. It's quite a positive atmosphere to be in when we're all like this because we are individually driven with our goals but we're good at encouraging each other as well, urging each other on and pushing each other in training to get the best results that we can."
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British Swimming is strong at the moment and there's a lot of talent coming through. Do you feel pressure to keep stepping up your game?
"Definitely. I think it's so positive how the team's been doing and hopefully we can keep that snowballing going into Rio because it's not that long [to go] at all. I don't think I put extra pressure on myself because I always put a lot of pressure on myself anyway, which is natural because we train so hard and we want to get the best results we can at the main meet. So I wouldn't say it's added pressure, but when you see other people do well, if anything, it kind of spurs you on even more because you're like, 'I don't want to be a let down, I want to do it as well!'."
For you personally, in terms of training and tactics, what are you aiming to work on?
"[For short course] I've been working a lot on trying to kick as hard as I can and move fast for 50m. Also with the backstroke, they've brought in the backstroke starting wedge for the first time and I'm quite excited to use that as well."
We're still two years away, but have you begun thinking about Rio 2016 yet?
"I think it's always in the back of your mind because the Olympics is the biggest thing that we can do, and I think that the time goes really fast as well. Eighteen months will just fly by - before we know it we'll be at the trials, feeling nervous and trying to get our spot on the team. Although I've been focusing on the trials for the world long course, it's always in the back of your mind and you're trying to do everything you can perfectly in training with that in mind."
Danielle Joynson
