Carry on winning

FOUR YEARS ago David Carry had a choice. He could sink or swim. He chose the latter and, chatting on the eve of his departure to Beijing, there is no doubting he made the correct choice. His enthusiasm for the Olympics burns as fiercely as the flame which will be ignited in China in less than a fortnight.

We're barely into the conversation and his excitement is already contagious. This a guy for whom the Games truly mean something. Not just a shot at a medal, not simply an event where he can race the world's finest in the hope of recording a personal best. For him it's about something bigger. That's the way it should be.

"I'm incredibly excited. I just can't wait. It's hard to explain what the Olympics means; how special it is. Even just thinking about it I get a shiver down the back of my neck."

After all the negativity of the Dwain Chambers saga, his talk has a welcome vibrancy which matches his dedication. Yet, cast the mind back four years and it's amazing that any love of the Olympics still flickers. In Athens as part of the 4x200m freestyle relay squad he had featured throughout the heats, a key component in Team GB's qualification for the final. Then he was dropped. "I was shocked. It was 50-50 if I would continue swimming after that," says the 27-year-old. "It was that devastating to be left out at that time and it proved to be the wrong decision but that was no consolation. It was a horrible way to end an Olympic year. I thought about it and I realised that I'm not the kind of guy who takes that lying down. I wasn't prepared to end my swimming career on such a negative so I decided I would do everything I could to come back from the next Olympics with a medal."

Instead of being broken by the decision, he was buoyed. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he emerged a double gold medallist, winning the 400m individual medley as well as the 400m freestyle, and added a silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay, finishing behind England, but ahead of Australia, who had taken silver in Athens. Two of his colleagues from that Scotland relay team (Robert Renwick and Andrew Hunter) are also named in the Team GB relay squad for Beijing, along with Ross Davenport, who won gold with his English colleagues. Wales-based Ben Hockin completes the set. Together they form a realistic medal hope. "I'm really excited about it. This time it feels a lot different."

In Athens he was on the outskirts. There simply as a relay squad member, with no individual races in which to make his name, he felt he was simply making up numbers. Being dropped for the final simply underlined that impression. Now everyone's expectations of him are higher. "This time I'm going out there to do a job. In terms of targets, I'm concentrating on my times rather than pitting myself against the rest of the world. No amount of worrying or planning or stressing can influence what they do. If everything goes to plan, I will break my British record and we will then see where that leaves me."

Work on that has been going well since the British Olympic trials, when Dave McNulty assumed responsibility for his training. "Since then I have been thrilled with the way things have been going and if nothing else, the Commonwealth Games taught me that I can peak at the right time and compete at that level. It gave me a certain amount of confidence. The mindset now is that I'm incredibly disappointed if I don't match the world's best."

American swimming star Michael Phelps has decided not to compete in the 400m freestyle as he goes for another remarkable medal haul but the number of serious contenders is still high in the event. If he has a good day Carry knows he can be counted among them.

The individual event is early in the Games schedule, the heats and final on the opening weekend. And the final of the relay is August 13, just days into the sporting extravaganza. Which suits Olympics enthusiast Carry perfectly.

"It's great for me because when we first arrive and while I am competing, it will be like any other champs; it's hard to describe but it's like I'm in a bubble. I have no idea what is going on beyond the swimming pool but when that's finished I can go back to being a real sports fan. I enjoy all the events. I can relax and enjoy the whole experience."

Sitting on the edge of his seat at home, engrossed in the achievements and the agonies of others. Now he can get even closer to the drama.

Steve Redgrave is listed as one of his heroes, a result of the rower's ability to come back time and time again, winning gold at five consecutive Olympics. The first was in 1984, three years after Carry was born, but if the first two passed him by, by the time Redgrave was going for the third, fourth, and particularly the fifth, the Aberdeen lad, like millions of other Britons watching on TV, was entranced. It is that ability to captivate which separates the Olympics – summer and winter – from most other sporting occasions.

"I remember watching pretty much every Olympics since 1992 in Barcelona. That year it was amazing watching Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell and being swept along in the whole sporting fervour. We all went back into school and were talking about it. Now I'm part of it. That's what's exciting. It's about people watching sports they never normally pay any attention to and getting caught up in them. We were all just talking about that in the showers, about watching the curling at the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and saying how strange it is to think the whole country was suddenly obsessed with curling. But we all were. The Olympics pulls people together, united in a desire to see people succeed. They are special."

The power of a unified force was keenly felt by the swimmers who competed in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne two years ago. Although split into the various home nations squads, the bond of Team GB was strong. A group who have come up through the ranks together, the camaraderie was evident as they gave an indication of the threat they could pose when pooled together again in Beijing. "For us now, it's about the shared experience. We have come through together and you know the guy next to you has been through the same as you to get there; it is extremely beneficial and it helps us relax."

Which is why there will be no worries when it comes to escaping the stress of an Olympics. All bunking down together in the village, they will be cocooned in their own community. "We will take the mickey out of each other as always and have a laugh and joke. Five of us from the same training group will be out there together, sharing the Olympic experience. We are not just team-mates or colleagues, we are friends, so we support each other and when we are in the pool we know we can rely on each other." In the 400m freestyle, he will ultimately have to depend on himself but as he aims to lay to rest the ghosts of Athens in the relay, he will have those guys around him. Sharing the experience is one thing, sharing a place on the podium quite another. For Carry, it's not about redemption or righting wrongs of four years ago. To him the Olympics are much bigger than that.

SCOTS MAKE A SPLASH

TEN of the 31 Scots going to Beijing for the Olympics are in the GB swimming team, the most ever selected for a single Games.

KIRSTY BALFOUR

Outstanding breaststroke performer must overcome Australian 200m world record holder Leisel Jones in Beijing. Also has a shout in the 100m.

DAVID CARRY

Flourished with two golds at 2006 Commonwealth Games and will relish the 400m freestyle in Beijing as well as the 4x200m freestyle relay.

TODD COOPER

The Stirling-based Cooper will be competing in his second Olympics in the 100m butterfly.

EUAN DALE

Edinburgh-born Dale will make his Olympic debut in the 400m individual medley.

GREGOR TAIT

The grand old man of the team will bow out at Beijing but will be determined to go with a bang in the 100m and 200m backstroke.

KRIS GILCHRIST

The City of Edinburgh swimmer set a new Commonwealth record in the 200m breaststroke in August. It was the fifth-fastest time ever and makes him a medal chance. Will also go in 100m.

ANDREW HUNTER

A member of the 4x200m freestyle relay team that has high hopes of a medal.

CAITLIN McCLATCHEY

A brace of golds at the 2006 Commonwealth Games catapulted McClatchey into the limelight and the freestyler will go for glory in the 100m and 200m individual and relay.

HANNAH MILEY

The Garioch teenager has been in great form this season and has been selected in 200m and 400m individual medley.

ROBBIE RENWICK

One of the youngest swimmers in the team goes in the 200m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay.