Glasgow’s Andrew Mullen admits his confidence is sky-high ahead of next month’s IPC Swimming World Championships, and he is relishing finally getting the opportunity to swim in home waters.
The 18-year-old para-swimmer missed out on appearing at last summer’s Commonwealth Games, with his S5 disability class not included in the line-up.
But with the IPC Swimming World Championships taking place at Tollcross International Swimming Centre from July 13-19, Mullen is hoping to make up for that disappointment by adding to an already impressive collection of silverware.
After two silvers and a bronze on his World Championship debut two years ago in Montreal, Mullen finally topped the international podium in style in 2014 with four golds and two silvers at the Europeans in Eindhoven.
And with his self-belief growing and personal best times dropping, Mullen believes he can ride the crest of the wave all the way to next summer’s Paralympic Games in Rio.
“What’s been good about my performances last year at the Europeans and the World Championship qualifiers earlier this year is that you can build a lot of confidence from them,” he said.
“With confidence you build momentum, so I’m just hoping to keep it going in my performances at Worlds.
“The venue is only 20 minutes from my house and it's also the pool I learned to swim in, so there is a lot of sentimental value there too.
“Getting gold at the Europeans felt like it had been a long time coming, as I’d been so close to a few major titles before.
“Hopefully I can progress from there and it will set me up for more success at the Worlds and the Paralympic Games as well.
“This is definitely one of the last big steps before Rio so everyone will want to go there and perform at their best, and it’s probably the last time I will get to race in such a high quality international field before the Paralympics too.”
Mullen is benefitting from a recent move down to the National Para-Swimming Performance Centre in Manchester, where he joined up with the rest of the GB team to train in preparation for next year’s Olympic qualifiers.
It was a big change for the starlet – his first move away from home – but after settling in quickly he is looking forward to what will be the most important months of training in his career to date.
But Mullen is not getting ahead of himself, and knows a good showing in July is a vital step on his Paralympic journey.
He added: “Qualifying is next year in March, the Worlds are a good opportunity to better your times, and it really is all about building confidence up.
“A good summer and World Championships will make getting back into training and getting the most out of it during the hard winter months a lot easier.
“I just want to keep on getting better. I think if I just focus on bettering my times and bettering myself as an athlete then the success will come.
“To be honest I just look at each event in respect of the times I want to hit, and on setting personal best performances.
“I tend not to look at anything as a good medal chance or anything like that. Obviously in the back of your mind you always know what events you generally do better in, but I always think it is more helpful to focus on what you do to perform well.
“You have no control over what the other guys do, so you just have to go there and try and perform at your best.”
To support the British Para-Swimming Team at the IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow get your tickets at www.ticketmaster.co.uk/glasgow2015 The IPC Swimming World Championships are part of UK Sport’s National Lottery backed #EveryRoadtoRio campaign