AMBITIOUS: With just over 1000 days to go before the Paralympics, Eleanor Simmond insists she is concentrating on the 'now' (swPIX.com)
The Walsall-born swimmer shot to prominence in Beijing, winning double gold aged just 13 and in the process became Britain's youngest ever individual Olympic or Paralympic champion.
That success saw her become a household name overnight and more honours followed, including the 2008 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award. She was also made the youngest ever MBE in the New Year's Honours list.
And Simmonds - who turned 15 last month - hasn't rested on her laurels in the pool, scooping five gold medals at last month's European Disability Championships.
But while the London Paralympics are now nearly 1,000 days away, Simmonds is adamant that 2009, starting in Rio today, tops her agenda and not 2012.
"I'm not really thinking about 2012 yet," she said.
"We've got so many major competitions coming up in the years before then that we're not really focusing on London yet - we're more thinking of short term goals.
"But of course the whole team is looking forward to it. It's in the back of everybody's minds because the Paralympics in London is just going to be amazing but right now we've got other things to concentrate on.
"We flew out to Rio on Tuesday and I'm really looking forward to it. It's about 33 degrees, rather than the murky clouds in the UK, so hopefully I'll be able to come back with a tan and maybe some medals too.
"It's the first IPC short course World Championships but it should be a really good event - any chance to compete against the best in the world is what you want.
"I don't think I'll have too many problems going from long course to short course. The only thing is there will be 16 lengths in my 400m freestyle rather than eight and my turns aren't the best."
Despite her reluctance to talk about all things 2012, Simmonds could be targeting four individual gold medals in London, following her recent display in Reykjavik, that included world record number four, this time in the 200m medley.
The British team dominated the pool in Iceland capturing 39 golds, 32 silvers and 23 bronze medals to top the table. While Simmonds was happy with how things went, she knows things will be much harder in Rio.
"I was really happy with the Europeans. I was definitely going for titles in the 100m and 400m freestyle but it was a big shock to get gold in the 50m free and 200m medley," she added.
"To break the world record in the 200 medley as well was fantastic - I really wasn't expecting to do that.
"I'm now looking forward to Rio; it's a good way of seeing who's going to be a contender at the World Championships in Eindhoven next year as well.
"Iceland was only Europeans but there will be the Americans and Australians in Rio so it will be a lot more competitive.
"I'm expecting most of the people to be the same as in Beijing but there were a few new people in Iceland who I'd never heard of, so who knows."
Source : Chris Cottrell(Sportsbeat)
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