Liam Tancock believes his experience can play a key role in helping him defend his Commonwealth Games backstroke titles ahead of the 100m semi-finals tonight (Thursday).
The Exeter swimmer set a time of 54.51secs from lane five in this morning's heats, finishing second to Australian Mitch Larkin (54.18) in lane four.
Tancock has been plagued by a hip problem which only allowed him to return to swimming in January, depriving him of crucial preparation time.
But the 29-year-old three-times world champion believes his experience will help him close the gap on his rivals.
"You look across the field and it is a very strong field, but nobody has as much experience as me, nobody has been around the block as much as me, I've come out the other side so let's see what happens," he said.
"It has been a tough year. Injuries, niggles – these things happen after the Olympics, especially as you are getting older.
"But I have come through it, come through the other side and done a good heat swim and will be coming back for tonight.
"It felt pretty good. If I am honest, the season has not been great – it has probably been half a season rather than a full season.
"The training has not been great but I am not one of those who is going to cry over spilled milk. I am a positive guy."
Tancock, who was set the fifth-fastest time out of those to make the semis, is set to compete in the semi-finals tonight from 8.05pm onwards.
But it was not all good news for the defending champion over both 50m and 100m though, as he saw his Commonwealth Games record broken by fellow Englishman Charlie Walker-Hebborn in the following heat.
Walker-Hebborn touched home in 53.30secs, making him the fastest qualifier and breaking Tancock's record by 0.29secs.
