by Alex Hoad

Ellen Gandy admits she is feeling the pressure ahead of London 2012 but says she is hoping to peak at the right time as she prepares an assault on two gold medals in the pool.

The 20-year-old former Beckenham Swimming Club star – now based in Australia – is ranked in the top four of both the 100m and 200m Butterfly this year and is widely fancied to be one of the first British medallists on the podium at the Games.

The heats and second round of the 100m fly are on Saturday morning and evening respectively with the final on Sunday evening (7.30pm).

The 200m fly gets underway with the heats on Tuesday morning, the semi-finals that night with the final around 8pm on Wednesday.

Gandy (pictured) said "I'm prepared to swim my best race in the finals of the 100m and 200m fly so I'm just taking things one step at a time and focusing on getting into the finals first of all and then doing what I've trained to do in the final."

Appearing at the Beijing Olympics as a 16-year-old and claiming Britain’s first female butterfly medal at the World Championships last year have given the former Langley Park Girls Grammar School pupil confidence ahead of the Games she helped support – appearing on the bid posters eight years ago, diving into the Thames.

She said: "I do feel pressure but only the pressure I put on myself to do what I know I can do.

"I don't really take too much notice of other things because I can't control anything that anyone else does or says, so why worry about it?"

She added: "I'd say I was a quietly confident person. You have to be confident to stand up and put yourself on the line as an athlete, you dedicate your whole life to performing at a competition, so you have to be confident in your own abilities."

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