SWIM Bournemouth star Jay Lelliott is hungrier than ever for success at next month’s British Swimming Championships.

The 20-year-old is gearing up for this year’s domestic showdown fresh from a breakthrough year that saw him claim 400m European freestyle bronze and reach the final of the 1500m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games.

Those performances were proud moments for Lelliott, who believes he is starting to show glimpses of his true potential.

However, an intense block of training at the London Aquatics Centre has started to take its toll.

Lelliott said: “I had a strong year last year and my preparations have been great. I’ve been destroying myself in training.

“I’ll be going in the 1500m, 400m and 200m freestyle as well as the 200m fly and I think I might have accidentally entered the 100m fly so it’ll definitely be busy!

“I think winning a European medal last year came as a complete shock and I never could have imagined the season that I had.

“There is always a danger of complacency when you do well but I think that, if anything, doing so well has only made me more hungry.”

A strong 2014 has made qualification for next year’s Olympic Games a serious target and Lelliott is hoping that the road to Rio can start in the capital next month.

Lelliott added: “I am really happy with how last year went for me and I think that I made a statement with some of my performances.

“The Olympics has to be everyone’s goal and I believe in my ability to get there.”

  • Support the country’s best swimmers from April 14-18 at London Aquatics Centre. For tickets visit http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/feature/british-swimming.