Britain's swimming renaissance?

Baker was victorious in the 50m breaststroke

By Saj Chowdhury BBC Sport Online in Manchester

The words, 'British', 'success' and 'swimming' have rarely been strung together in the same sentence over the last two years.

The team that held such high hopes going into the Sydney Olympics, came away with absolutely nothing - the first time that had happened since the 1936 Berlin Games.

Now at the Commonwealth Games, all that seems to have changed.

Before Manchester 2002, the talk was about how many golds Australia's superstars would pick up and whether Ian Thorpe could win seven titles.

Now the topic of conversation has moved to the resurgence of British swimming, in particular England's medal rout in Manchester - although Thorpe is still not out of the headlines of course.

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Chief executive of the Amateur Swimming Association, David Sparks, was keen to stress to BBC Sport Online, that the nation's athletes still had a long way to go before they could seriously match their Australian counterparts.

"We're all delighted with what has happened over the last few days, but let's not get carried away," he said.

"This is not the Olympics. Mark my words, it'll be extremely difficult for the swimmers to reproduce the same results at Athens 2004."

Sparks looked to sport in Australia and the way that it has been funded over the last 20 years in relation to Britain, which has only recently started investing.

"We've only had that money for the last five years," he added.

"But it's not just about investing in the ASA. It's about ploughing money into the schools to nurture the new breed."

Australia has a head start, says Sparks.

"We have been getting lottery money but we need more investment from the government. I think you only have to look at Australia to see how sport over there has reaped dividends."

Perhaps Sparks is right. Success at the Commonwealth Games maybe just a flash in the pan - who is to say that Britain won't struggle again at the deep end of the Olympics, in two years time.

But for the moment, the home nations are riding on a crest of a wave.

The likes of England's Zoe Baker, Karen Legg, Sarah Price, James Goddard, Steve Parry, Adam Whitehead and Scots Gregor Tait and Alison Sheppard have shown that they can produce world class times as well as win medals.

And the confidence gained from these Games will certainly play a key part in boosting the swimmers' chances of further success.

Some, not all, will take what they have learnt to Athens and maybe, just maybe, Britain's swimmers will be ready to surprise everybody once again.