BEIJING will be my third Olympics and the biggest difference for me between this time around and Athens or Sydney is my level of experience.

In some respects there is more pressure this time but I feel more relaxed because I've been through this process twice before.

I think that may be the biggest advantage I have over some of my competitors. I have been in this situation before. I've made mistakes and I've learned from them. When I look back on my career, my best years of swimming have been 2001 and 2005 and the reason for that is because of the experiences that I have had through the Olympics in Sydney and Athens, which I have then been able to take on board the following years. This is when I have used those lessons to my best advantage and I've come up with my best times.

I have looked at what I have done differently in those years and tried to transfer it to this preparation and I think this time I haven't got over-anxious about training. I have been more relaxed about my focus and getting the most out of myself and just realising I can only get what I can get out of my performances.

By that I mean I can only turn around at the end of my races and look at the scoreboard and regardless of the result know that I've got no regrets and that I've put in everything I could. I will know I have used everything I have learned from those previous experiences to get the best out of myself and give the best I can for my country and myself.

Of my first two Olympics, Sydney, and my 1500 metres race against Kieren Perkins probably carried the most personal pressure.

Going into Sydney, a journalist wrote a story about me saying that I might as well be an American because I was racing a national icon and everyone would be cheering for him. I should not have taken this personally but I did. It hurt me at a time when I really needed a lift.

Kieren was the undisputed king of the sport and was pursuing a dream. Ironically, now it's that same dream I am trying to conquer myself.

I was offended because I was so proud to be representing my country at an Olympic Games and wanted to do well. I wanted Australia to be proud of me. As I mature I have more empathy for the situation. If the same scenario was to happen at this Olympics the situation may be reversed. The tide does change and I have been lucky to enjoy a lot of public support from Australia.

I can laugh now and understand the journalist's intention but in the heightened anxiety of the Olympics, I found the comments offensive because I am so proud to be an Australian and racing for my country, and competing in front of a home crowd was my dream. All of that created enormous pressure.

All my life I had wanted to win an Olympic gold for Australia and now I was going to have to beat a local hero to do it.

It was a tough situation because if I beat Kieren I had dashed the hopes of the country and if I didn't win people would have questioned my ability at that level. To this day I firmly believe it shouldn't matter who you are, if you're Australian and you're out there giving it your best shot, you should be given equal support.

Athens was tough, too, with the illness I had.

I had been pretty sick earlier in 2004 but we kept everything under wraps because I didn't want to be the sort of athlete who has an excuse before they race. I put pressure on myself, but it was more to just get the job done and didn't really involve anyone else.

One thing I have tried to do differently this time is look after the little things a bit better and some of the methods have caused a bit of a stir in the media.

I have worked hard on my personal hygiene and looked at ways to minimise the risk of getting sick, something not uncommon for an athlete these days in a sporting world where the smallest difference can decide who wins and loses.

As has been reported, I have been avoiding crowds in winter where a greater number of people carry viruses and colds. I have also been wearing a respiratory mask on planes.

This seems to have caused the biggest interest in the media but it is so common among athletes of every sport these days that I am surprised. Most members of the swim team have been wearing them for about six years.