London in focus for swimming star Tadd

By Tom Reynolds, Sportsbeat

DOUBLE British champion Stacey Tadd insists she is worrying about nobody but herself this winter as she bids to hold off the young pups nipping at her heels and claim a London 2012 spot.

OLYMPIC FOCUS: Stacey Tadd knows she will have to be at her best if she wants to stay on top of British breaststroke swimming 

Tadd, 22, was the standout GB breaststroke performer in 2011, winning both the 100m and 200m national titles in Manchester to secure her World Championship qualification berth at a canter.

However while her passage to Shanghai was safe the Chinese event saw a young pretender to her No. 1 crown emerge in the shape of Molly Renshaw.

15-year-old Renshaw finished 20^th to Tadd's 14^th in the 200m in Shanghai to announce herself on the world stage and leave the Bath swimmer's 2012 spot far from secure.

After an off-colour 2011 five-time Commonwealth medallist Kate Haywood is also expected to be back to her best in Olympic year to create further headaches.

But the breaststroke ace is calmness personified insisting there'll be no panic in the Tadd camp.

"You can never relax in the sport because you are never just going to stay on top, you have got to keep pushing," said Tadd - speaking at the launch of the Swimathon Weekend - the world's largest fundraising swim - at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre last week.

"Molly is a great swimmer and a lovely girl and had a great year last year and there are lots of people like her who are going to want that London 2012 spot.

"With Kate Haywood and all the other people going for London I am sure it is going to be a good race at the trials this year.

"All I am doing is concentrating on what I am doing and working hard.  I am not changing things to much or making big adjustments because I have faith in my coach in what I have done in previous winters and I am sure it will work again this year.

"I had a good year last year and swam lots of personal bests and made the semi-finals at the World Championships. It would be good to have another good year this year but the first job is getting to the Olympics first."

To do that Tadd will need to finish in the top two - with the required qualification time - at March's British Gas Swimming Championships at the London Aquatics Centre.

And while London 2012 fever shows no signs of slowing down, Tadd, despite the best efforts of her family friends, is trying to avoid the hype.

"I am not thinking about London 2012 at the minute I am just concentrating on the trials," she added.

"My family do get quite a lot of people asking them about me and asking why I am not racing now and things.

"They don't really understand actually how it works with the trials in March and things.  But for me I just try to avoid it and concentrate on March."

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© Sportsbeat 2012