As Lauren Quigley prepares for the forthcoming World Championships, the Stockport swimmer believes her rivals will see a much different athlete to the person who made her debut two years ago.
Back in 2013, an 18-year-old Quigley travelled to Barcelona for her first ever World Championships, competing in the 50m backstroke and 4x100m medley relay finals and the 100m and 200m backstroke events.
It was a competition which provided the European Junior silver medallist with plenty of valuable experience, although it was only at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where she took her first senior international medals in the form of three silvers.
And while disappointed not to get her hands on gold north of the border, the now 20-year-old is certain progress is being made.
The latest challenge will be the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia, from August 2-9 and Stockport Metro’s Quigley insists she is not just going to make up the numbers this time around.
“This is going to be my second World Championships which is pretty weird to say to be honest,” she said.
“I have definitely grown up in the last two years, last year’s Commonwealth Games in particular was a big event for me.
“It was crazy; it was just pretty cool being on the podium. I really wanted to get gold so it was a bit disappointing but it was a still a great experience.
“I feel like I have learnt a lot and learnt how to apply myself better. I’m really excited about what I’ve got coming up.
“Two years ago I just went to Barcelona for the experience really, I did not know what to expect. This year I want to step that up and progress in the races.”
Quigley and her Great Britain teammates will be looking to build on their promising performances at not only last year’s Commonwealth Games but also at the European Games where the team topped the medal table.
And with Rio quickly coming into focus on the horizon, she knows there has never been a better time to deliver the goods.
“We’ve got the Worlds and then qualification for Rio. It’s a busy year coming up,” she added.
“The team that has been picked for Russia is really strong. We’ve got the likes of Adam Peaty and the other breaststroke guys are really strong and then you’ve got people stepping up elsewhere. Everyone gets on really well and that’s good to see.
“It’s very important to perform well, I want to be up there and I want people to be aware of me going into Rio.”
Lauren Quigley is one of 1,300 athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery supported World Class Programme. Find out more www.uksport.gov.uk
Image courtesy of British Swimming via YouTube, with thanks.
