Melanie Nocher's 200 metres backstroke heat win, in which she clocked a new Irish record, has left her determined to set out on the road to London 2012 as quickly as possible.
Nocher, along with teenager Aisling Cooney, got the call-up to compete in Beijing as a part of the Olympic Council of Ireland's special London 2012 Swim Development Programme.
The OCI's decision was a brave one but a justified one as both Cooney and Nocher underlined their talent and ability to compete at the top level.
There have been four Irish records set in the Beijing pool in recent days, with Andrew Bree, who finished 11th overall in the 200m breaststoke, claiming three of them.
And although a goggles mishap ruined Nocher's 200m freestyle heat, her record-breaking backstroke performance at the Water Cube earlier today has her wanting more.
'I really can't wait to get back into training and do some fast times,' the Belfast woman admitted.
'I was pretty confident I was going to do something good so I just had to believe in myself and it paid off. London is my goal but these have been a great Games to be part of.'
Just 20, Nocher was delighted wth her winning heat time of 2 minutes, 12.29 seconds. It beat her previous best by a considerable margin - 0.42 seconds.
Unfortunately, her semi-final chances faded when she slipped down the overall standings to a final position of 20th.
Nocher, the last Irish swimmer in action at the 2008 Games, added: 'I couldn't be more pleased with how the race turned out. I was nervous going into it but I'd calmed down by the time I got out there and I just remembered to enjoy myself and that's what I did.
'I really concentrated hard, especially on the last 50 metres. I was hurting but I got to the wall and looked up and was 0.4 faster so that was a good way to finish things off.'
