JAZZ Carlin is hoping that the illness that wrecked last summer’s World Championships is firmly behind her as she looks to reach top form for next year’s Olympic Trials.

The 21-year-old former Wootton Bassett School pupil, who won two medals for Wales at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, saw her preparations for Shanghai decimated after she was struck down with glandular fever and the Great Britain star went on to crash out of the 400m freestyle ahead of the final and the 800m in the heats.

But after taking time out to recover, Carlin is back in the thick of winter training in Swansea and says that she’s close to being back to her best.

“When I got glandular fever I just tried to train through it, which didn’t help at all, so I had a few weeks off in August to let my body recover,” she said.

“Now we’re just training all the time and my coach is really killing us in the pool.

“I’m feeling a lot better and I just want to make sure that I’m at my best for the trials next March.

“They’re going to be in the Olympic pool, which is a really important thing to experience, but I’m trying my best not to think about it all too much – you don’t want to get too anxious.

“I remember watching Beijing (2008) when I was on holiday and thinking that I really wanted to be there someday.

“To say that you’ve been to the Olympics would be amazing.”

Carlin is due to fly out to the United States for training camps in Florida and Texas at the end of the year.

After starting a degree in business accounting and finance at Swansea University, Carlin has deferred for a year to chase her Olympic dream.

She said: “You need to give yourself every chance.”