Vasey hoping Gold Coast can be springboard to European success this summer

The 21-year-old Derby swimmer is a new face on the global swimming scene, but a series of exceptional performances in the Gold Coast – which culminated with gold in the 50m breaststroke – and at last year's World Championships in Budapest have certainly made an impact.

Now, she wants the momentum to continue as she aims to cement a place in the British squad for this summer's European Championships in Glasgow.

"I'm still quite new to the senior international scene, so my first big championships was the Worlds in the summer," she explained.

"I'm trying to absorb as much as I can and just enjoy the experience and use it in the future.

"Hopefully, after getting a medal, I'll be able to replicate that in the summer at the Europeans.

"It feels a bit surreal; I still can't quite get my head around that I actually won.

"I knew that I was in a good position to potentially get a medal if everything went well and went right - I'm just so glad that it paid off.

"In the heats and the semis, my start and finish were dreadful, so I knew if I nailed that then I'd be in a really good position to potentially win.

"I'm the sort of person that thrives under pressure, so in finals I can usually step up and I will go faster, it's just something that seems to work for me.

"In Budapest at the World Championships I made three finals. That was such good experience and I knew how to control my nerves and use them to enhance my performance, instead of them being detrimental to it."

Vasey may have learnt how to conquer her nerves, but boosting her confidence in Australia was a wealth of support from both her family in front of her and thousands back home in England.

She attributes her success to her family, "100 percent."

"My mum did all the early mornings when I was younger," she explained. "And I've got three sisters back home, who have been trying to promote it on social media when I'm swimming.

"The reaction that I've had from back home has been more than I could ever expect. The kind words and messages that people have sent to me have been overwhelming."

And it certainly seems that all those pre-dawn swims were worth it, as Vasey recalls standing on the podium listening to the Team England national anthem, 'Jerusalem'.

"I was just looking around and taking it all in," she reflected.

"I knew it was going to be one of those moments that I would never forget, so I just wanted to absorb it all and take in all the crowd."

Sportsbeat 2018