Jaime King has put her Olympic disappointment behind her and is concentrating on the Commonwealth Games in 2002.

The 23-year-old swimmer had contemplated giving up the sport after her poor performance in Sydney but she opted to continue at her Bath training base.

Jaime finished last in her 200m breaststroke heat but she is still the British record-holder and is keen to prove herself again.

"I wasn't sure what I was going to do," she said. "I had genuine thoughts of stopping I took the longest break I have had since I started.

"I got back in the pool and I thought 'Oh God, what am I doing?', but this is a good life and you meet a lot of interesting people. I'm only 23 and I have plenty of time ahead of me."

Jaime makes her first competitive outing since September in the National Short-Course Championships in Sheffield on Friday, December 8.

She sees it more as a guide to see what progress she has made than something she must win.

"I'm not expecting anything," she said. "I've hardly been in the pool. I will meet up with some of the people from the Olympics and it should be a bit of fun.

"I am looking to the World Long Course Championships in Japan in July and then the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester."

Jaime was very upset by her Sydney setback but offers no excuses for what went wrong.

She said: "I was completely disappointed. There is no explanation. I just didn't feel right for the four or five weeks leading up to it.

"I was struggling the whole way. There is no reason and I am not doing anything different now. I am just starting again."

The Sydney Olympics were widely regarded as one of the best Games ever, and Jaime rates the experience as the most enjoyable of her life.

She said: "It was fantastic. I can't complain about Sydney. Apart from my swim, which was terrible, it was great.

"The Australians were very welcoming and the British team did very well.

"It was the best time of my life, apart from one day.

"The whole team was very close and I got to know everybody. The closing ceremony was wonderful, especially as we won two medals on the last day. I just felt privileged to be part of it."

The momentous occasions are coming thick and fast for Jaime.

After she came back, she went with the rest of the British team to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen.