Kate Haywood hopes to claim Olympic place before retirement
Last updated on .From the section Swimming
Swimmer Kate Haywood feels she is peaking at the right time as she tries to win a place at London 2012.
The 25-year-old from Lincolnshire spent the past year in Australia training with world champion Leisel Jones.
"Last weekend we raced at the New South Wales state championships and I beat her in the 100m breaststroke and the 50," she told BBC Look North.
Haywood, from Lincolnshire, competes in the British Championships this weekend, which doubles as the Olympic trials.
And she said: "I'm focusing on what I have to do and I'm not letting anything get to me."
Born in Grimsby, Haywood became the youngest swimmer to represent England when she competed at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester at the age of 16.
The following year she was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
In 2008, she finished second in the 50m breaststroke final at the European Championships and represented Britain at the Beijing Olympics, reaching the semi-finals of the 100m and finishing fourth in the medley relay.
Haywood has promised to retire at the end of the London Games if she qualifies.
