Countdown to London 2012 Olympics: Interview with Richard Webb ahead of European Long Course Championships (From Gazette Series)

Countdown to London 2012 Olympics: Interview with Richard Webb ahead of European Long Course Championships

8:30am Thursday 29th July 2010

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CHIPPING Sodbury swimmer Richard Webb will make his European Long Course Championship debut next month - and insists travelling to Budapest will be the perfect dress rehearsal for London 2012.

Webb’s path to the 2012 Olympics begun last year when he made his World Championships debut in Rome in August and finished 21st in the 200m breaststroke.

The former Southwold SC flyer built on that by securing passage to Hungary with British silver and bronze in March and gave further warning of his talents at last month’s Mare Nostrum in Barcelona.

Webb finished seventh in the 100m breaststroke and sixth in the 200m in a high-class field that included four-time Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima and European champion Grigory Falko.

And with the countdown clock to London 2012 ticking past the two-year mark this week - Webb insists his trip to Budapest could have long term benefits.

"London 2012 is always in my mind," said Webb - who will also travel to Delhi in October for the Commonwealth Games.

"I feel like getting the experience of swimming alongside the best in the world and going to the World Championships and the European Championships coming up is a great rehearsal for London.

"Every competition is a rehearsal for London whether it be a small meet or something bigger like the European Championships.

"Everything is about refining the process of how I go about swimming a meet from the warm up and mentally preparing and everything that goes into a meeting. It is about going up against the established names and testing yourself against them but also making sure you focus on yourself and don’t worry about anyone else.

"Obviously London is going to be a massive stage and I need to make sure by the time it comes around I am well prepared to make sure I can swim as well as possible."

Unlike double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington and world champions Gemma Spofforth and Liam Tancock - Webb will travel to the banks of the Danube under the radar.

Webb is the fifth fastest European in the 200m breaststroke and tenth quickest in the 200m this year but admits he is no longer fazed by his international rivals.

"I am really looking forward to the Europeans and I am quite excited about how I am swimming and the times I have been doing, especially at the Mare Nostrum," he added.

"All the best swimmers were there and I managed to finish in the top eight in both my races which was a fantastic achievement and really gave me some confidence.

"What is also great for me is that I am starting to get a lot of experience now of racing against the best in the world and being in the same pool as them doesn’t faze me anymore."

l Lloyds TSB, proud partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and supporter of Team GB on their journey to London 2012. LloydsTSB.com/London2012

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