FOUR years of hurt and pain in the quest for glory will come to a culmination tomorrow for Jazz Carlin.

The Swindon swimmer will take to the blocks at the Olympic pool in Rio de Janeiro for the 400m freestyle heats.

Go back four years and Carlin was enduring the most gut-wrenching week of her life as she was forced to watch on from the sidelines in London as the Olympic Games passed her by.

However, despite nearly walking away from the sport, the 25-year-old forced herself back into the pool and put herself through early mornings, gruelling training regimes and made more sacrifices than she cares to remember to get to this point.

Carlin overcame her nerves to book her place in Rio at the British Championships courtesy of a fine swim in the 400m and now she cannot wait to go out and try and clinch an Olympic medal.

“It is an incredible opportunity,” she told the Advertiser.

“Over the years, I have been watching the Olympics and now I am very lucky that I am now part of the team.

“I will be giving it everything I can to ensure I can perform at my best on the day.

“There are time targets that I am going for; I am not just going to make up the numbers or to enjoy the experience.

“I want to go out there and perform my best. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t going out there to be on the podium but I am going there to do my best and if that is enough to win me a medal, then that would be an incredible feeling.”

As well as the 400m freestyle, Carlin will also be going in the 800m freestyle on Thursday and has the chance to be part of the 200m freestyle relay team.

Carlin believes that having that wide scope of events in her locker has helped her become a more rounded swimmer over the years and now hopes that the benefits will show in Rio.

“I train for both events. I train for the four and the eight and I have got a really good balance of training, where I have got the speed and trying to work on things for both the four and the eight,” she added.

“It is good that you don’t just focus on one event and put all your eggs in one basket.

“If my first swim isn’t the best event, then obviously I will have another event but for m,e I am going there to perform at my best in both events and I am really looking forward to racing now.”

Carlin goes in the heat three of the 400m freestyle tomorrow (6.45pm BST), in lane three, with the sixth-fastest qualifying time of the field.

Meanwhile, the dressage phase of the eventing gets under way today, featuring a host of Wiltshire riders.

Lower Stanton St Quintin’s Kitty King was part of Team GB’s line-up, with Marlborough’s Jonelle Price and Jock Paget riding for New Zealand, with Badgerstown-based Sir Mark Todd, Little Cheverell’s Rebecca Howard competing for Canada and Baydon’s Marcio Jorge for hosts Brazil.