Greetings from Singapore! My final prep and race strategy are being fine tuned in the steamy island nation – the optimum environment to acclimatise for Beijing. Ian Pope and fellow swimmers Travis Nederpelt & Matt Targett are here with me before we join the rest of the team in Kuala Lumpur next week. It’s a fairly relaxed environment and I’ve had time-out to reflect on the past couple of months….

It was a great week for me last week, with my Victorian Short Course results providing a timely confidence boost just before the Games. Especially after breaking my own world record in the 800 meters freestyle and winning the 400m free as well.

I’m sure with the Olympics not far away some would question the benefit of swimming short course, but I think it’s good to have variety in your racing. If anything, racing in the short course gave me a chance to work on some technical aspects of my swimming such as turns.

Plenty has been asked of me about the Olympics and winning the same event for three straight games in the 1500m freestyle. Winning any event would be welcome and a moment I would cherish, but of course I am very keen to become the first male swimmer to achieve the “three-peat” in the one event.

The thing about the 1500 is I don’t see myself as a clear favourite going into the race, even though people may expect me to win.

There are plenty of genuine contenders in the field and it would be foolish to discount any of them. There’s Peter Vanderkaay of the USA, who has the fastest time this year and the current world champion Mateusz Sawrymowicz of Poland, not to mention my old nemeses Larsen Jensen and David Davies. It is going to be a great race and I am looking forward to it.

I know I have done the work and I expect to perform well. I am full of confidence that the rest will take care of itself.

As for the rest of the team, I am quietly confident we can do well, but I am not going to put a number on the amount of gold medals we will win. To do would be foolish as I may end up eating my words if I get it wrong. Not to mention the unnecessary pressure it could place on everyone.

As I have said I believe we will be strong, but there are plenty of countries with top class swimmers competing. It’s not a case of Australia versus USA. The Poles are strong as are Russia, Japan, Great Britain and of course the hosts China.

To sign off on my last blog until after the Games, I would like to give a massive “thank you” to everyone who has helped me get into such a strong position leading into Beijing. A lot of people wrote me off after my sub-par performances at the Melbourne World Championships. However my “pit crew” has not budged in their support for me and the challenges I have faced over the last eighteen months. A special mention to my parents, Marg and Nev; they are everything one could wish for in supportive parents. It all started with them and I can’t thank them enough.

Until after Beijing – take care.