With 19 IPC Swimming World Championship medals to his name, you might think Sheffield’s James Crisp would be content with his haul.
But elite sportsmen and women rarely think that way and Crisp is desperate to add medal number 20 when this year’s event gets underway in Glasgow next month.
The 32-year-old City of Sheffield ace has been competing at the highest level for the past 18 years, winning at least one medal in each of his five previous World Championships – with his biggest tally of seven coming in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, in 2002.
These days, the S9 100m backstroke is his best chance of reaching the podium and Crisp admits that the World Championships will always hold a special place in his heart.
“This will be my sixth World Champs and I’ve had great memories over the years from my first in ’98 right up to the last one in Montreal,” he explained.
“I love them – you step up against the best in the world and you test yourself. I love racing in them and hopefully I can get amongst the medals again.
“You can’t put yourself through the training you do for anything less than gold really. You have to aim for the top – that’s what you’re going for.
“I guess I’d be happy with a medal of any colour but I wouldn’t be 100 per cent happy with it. Within the medals but definitely gold is what I’m aiming for.
“The home support will be great hopefully – the London Olympics in 2012 were something else.
“When your name gets called out and the majority of the crowd cheer for you it does give you that extra boost and that adrenaline starts to pump.”
The IPC Swimming World Championships will take place in Glasgow from 13-19 July with around 600 swimmers from 68 countries competing in the event.
With the Rio Paralympic Games only a year away, the athletes’ preparation is really beginning to step up.
And despite competing at three previous Paralympics, picking up 11 medals, in addition to his five World Championships, Crisp insists the nerves still course through the veins before he competes at the highest level.
“I probably get more nervous now going into big events than I did when I was younger,” added Crisp.
“When you’re younger you just go through the motions and don’t let things bother you but when you’re a bit older you realise what is on the line.
“You’re a bit more aware of your future but I’ve been doing this for 18 years, so the experience is there for me to pick into when I need to.
“You work in a four-year cycle and it’s all about Rio now. Next year will be the most intense but there’s nothing quite like it.
“All the focus is Rio and next year when we can see it on the horizon, it is going to be great.”
To support the British Para-Swimming Team at the IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow get your tickets at www.ticketmaster.co.uk/glasgow2015