Mark Foster knows that for much of the next five months he will have to put up with being described as the veteran of British swimming. The 50m specialist will turn 34 before heading to Athens for his fifth Games as he goes in search of the elusive Olympic medal that would cap his career.
And Foster admits that there is one question that is increasingly being asked.
"When is he giving up?" admits the man from Billericay, who insists he is has as good a chance as ever of claiming a first Olympic medal.
"I think coming second at the World Championships last year proved to me that I'm still on the up. I think the best is still to come."
He is often portrayed as something of a loner within the team structure of British swimming, and national performance director Bill Sweetenham is happy to let him train away from the group.
 |  There are no coaches that have been and done what he's done |
Foster's unorthodox approach has seen recently retired athletics star Colin Jackson take over as coach. "My training techniques have changed around," Foster told BBC Sport.
"Colin is training me for the second year and he's learning how I react, and my body reacts, to the training he's given me. But the biggest thing he gives me is confidence.
"We work on the same principle as if I was a 200m runner, in that my event last 20 seconds.
| 50m FACTS World record: Alexander Popov 21.64secs (Jun 2000) British record: Mark Foster 22.13secs (May 2001) |
"I do a lot of gym stuff to get stronger, I go on the track twice a week, and obviously I have to swim. "I do the drills and the technical side but he sets the pool sessions and that's given me a lot of confidence. There are no coaches that have been and done what he's done, so I listen to everything he's telling me."
Jackson may have brought a new edge to training but Foster has been around long enough to know what is needed in Olympic year.
"I went to Miami in January for six weeks of conditioning training," he said. "Now I'm starting to implement more speed work into the training. "We've got the trials in three weeks' time in Sheffield, then the European Championships in Madrid in the middle of May, and obviously the Olympic Games in the middle of August.
"At the trials I want to be quick, but there's no point in being quick at the trials and not at the Games. Everything's geared around the 19th and 20th August."
The one major test between now and Athens looks to be Madrid in May and another battle with old foe Alexander Popov.
"I still have to go to the Europeans with the serious intention of being able to win it," he said.
"I know Popov will be there, so it could be quite a good showdown before the Olympic Games.
"But if I go and swim 22.3 seconds or 22.3, which is still quick, I've got to drop down to 21.9 or 21.8 at the Games.
"So you've always got to be ticking over in training because there's another peak that I have to make later on. That's the difficult thing."
And as for the on-going rumours about facilities in Athens, with organisers only agreeing in the last two weeks to build a roof over the Olympic pool, Foster remains unfazed. "I've heard all sorts of things but I haven't been out there," said Foster.
"I heard the roof wasn't going on but that doesn't bother me as long as there's 50m of water and it's a level playing field.
"I've swum in worse conditions."
MMIX
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