Hannah Miley will attempt to use this weekend’s Scottish short-course championships as a springboard towards making it to a fourth and final Olympics next summer.
Having missed out on last week’s Europeans in Glasgow, the 30-year-old will be among a cast of leading British hopefuls headed to Edinburgh with a chance to stretch their competitive legs.
After rebounding from surgery, Miley – due to swim in today’s 400m individual medley – concedes she has an uphill battle to make her case in April’s trials for Tokyo.
Not trying, she claims, would leave her even more frustrated than missing the cut.
“It’s going to go one or two ways – I’ll either make the team or I won’t,” she said.
“And it’s very black and white in my eyes and through results. I’ll feel satisfied knowing that at least I tried, because I was so ready to give up in 2018 and I’m glad I didn’t.
“I’m glad that I stuck with it because, otherwise, I would sit with a lot of regret.
“I know I’ve swum the times I need in the past. It is a time that is achievable. But whether I can still do that now with surgery, I genuinely don’t know. Not knowing used to freak me out, but actually makes me feel so much more relaxed because it takes the extra pressure and stress off. So I’m kind of not worried about it.”
European medallists Freya Anderson, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott will also line up at the Commonwealth Pool with Scott set to put in a short shift as he prepares to fly to Las Vegas for next weekend’s International Swimming League final.
But he is hoping the capital crowds can pick up on a surge of exposure for the sport in recent weeks.
The Scot, 22, said: “Glasgow’s had a lot of success and it’s good it has international meetings but having the ISL on TV has helped as well.
“It’s created a spectacle, so I’m hoping the Scottish Championships will get a good turn out as it always usually does.”
