While last year may have proved his most successful in the pool to date, Welsh swimmer Calum Jarvis is confident he can step things up another gear when he makes his World Championships debut in Russia next month.
Although Jarvis had been appearing on the domestic scene for a number of years, 2014 was the summer in which he broke through internationally with his first major medal.
The 23-year-old posted a time of 1:46.53 at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to land 200m freestyle bronze.
Keen not to rest on his laurels, Jarvis has maintained his performances this year with a new 100m freestyle national record of 48.79.
Such efforts have earned him a place on the Great Britain team for the World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia with swimming taking place from August 2-9.
And with confidence high, Jarvis is determined to try and navigate his way into the medal races.
“It was a massive boost last year, coming through beating the other guys from Britain and a lot of guys in the Commonwealth,” he said.
“I’ve been to Commonwealth Youth Games but in terms of a senior event, that was my first big competition. The Games will always hold a special place for me because of that.
“But I can definitely improve on last year. At trials my 100 freestyle was really good and I took a second off there. So I’m hoping to get that 200 freestyle time down even further and improve on my 100.
“I’m involved with a lot of relays so I’m hoping as a team that the relay teams will do really well but individually it would probably be to make my first worlds final and go from there.
“With the Olympics next year, it makes it even more important to show where you’re at. Swimming against the best in the world, it shows you where you are and what you need to do for next year. I’m looking forward to that.”
Jarvis narrowly missed out on the qualification time for London 2012 but with three more years' experience under his belt, as well as the support of his coaches, Jarvis believes he is right on track to be in Olympic contention.
“Rio comes into my mind a lot. It’s quite funny, people talk about the Rio Games but we haven’t even been to Russia yet,” he added. “At the moment my main focus is Russia and then next year will be a massive focus on the Olympics itself.
“I have complete faith in the program here with all my coaches and strength work. I’m definitely heading in the right place at the right time.”