Look East

Mark Foster in Beijing

In the countdown to the opening ceremony the veteran swimmer said he was thrilled and honoured when he found he had been picked to carry the flag for Britain.

An Olympics medal in China would be his first, and to win it he aims to swim faster than he has ever swum before.

Foster said a medal in Beijing, his fifth games in 20 years, would be the highlight of his career.

"It would mean everything," he said. "I've had a fourth, I've had a sixth, I've had a seventh (in the Olympics), but I've never had a medal."

The swimmer, from St Neots in Cambridgeshire, who qualified after breaking the British record in the distance with a time of 21.96 seconds, will compete in the 50m freestyle.

"My event lasts 21 or 22 seconds and I try to do the whole event without breathing which the hardest bit, but it isn't painful as such.

"But a factor of getting a but older is the day after, I ache," he said, conceding that is is not quite as easy as it used to be. "The body is going to catch up with me eventually."