Kris Gilchrist has lot of reasons to say 'thank you' to the enlightened path of Edinburgh's swimming programme. The Tynecastle High schoolboy first dipped his toe into water at a learn to swim class at the Heart of Midlothian Club. In three months' time, he will be making a splash at the Olympic Games.

He will board the plane to Beijing full of confidence. One of the new, young guns, he cruised through the British trials in Sheffield, gaining places in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke, and then went on to claim the 200m title at the world short-course championships in Manchester.

At the trials, Gilchrist claimed the British title in 2:10.44, which was just outside 0.12 outside his GB record. Now his goal is to whip a second off the mark before the Olympics - and be firmly in the race for the medals.

"At the trials, the time in the 200m wasn't quite as good as I had hoped. I was a little disappointed not to break the British record," was the frank assessment from the 24-year-old. "But the bonus was qualifying for the 100m. It will be great to get two swims in Beijing."

Coached by Fred Vergnoux for the past three years at the City of Edinburgh club, Gilchrist acknowledges the part the Frenchman has played in his development. "We've been doing a lot of land training, and the result at the trials (team mates Kirsty Balfour and Gregor Tait also made the Olympic team) showed how well we had prepared.

"Fred is great. He mixes everything up and that keeps everything interesting."

Come the Olympics, Vergnoux reckons that Gilchrist could be one of the Britons in the mix for a podium appearance. It will be very tough - but he reckons: "Kris had got a big chance. He will go to Beijing ranked fifth or so in the world so he won't be under real pressure to make the medals. But if he can get into the final, then who knows?"

Whatever happens over the next few months, Gilchrist, who spent four years studying sports science at University in Edinburgh, aims to be going for gold in London 2012. He considers himself something of a late developer in the sport, and reckons he could be at his peak in four years' time.

"I have been full-time since I graduated two years ago and, since then, I've been able to focus totally on training," he continued. "It's just great to see my times getting better all the time."

Gilchrist and Tait began May at an Olympic training camp in Sardinia - and they are very lucky that Vergnoux is in charge of the men's British team. After that, there will be a stint of altitude training and competition in France followed by the ASA National Championships in Liverpool in mid-July.

Then Gilchrist will be heading to Japan for the Olympic holding camp. The sojourn to Japan will raise happy memories - he set his British record at a meet in Chiba last summer. Hopefully, he will find that China is just as welcoming come the start of the Olympics on August 8.

EB
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