Romanian Olympic champion Camelia Potec is in good form and determined to defend her Olympic title at the Beijing Games, Potec's former coach said on Tuesday.
"She is training very well now...Of course, it's the gold medal (she is after)," Doina Sava, Potec's coach at the Athens Games, told Xinhua.
The former Olympic champion is training separately with her teammates in Beijing. The other Romanian swimmers, five men, started training at Beijing's National Aquatics Center Tuesday morning.
"Potec is now training at a city 200 kilometers south to Beijing and she will be here on Aug. 4," Sava said.
Sava said the swimmer arrived in China ten days ago and chose to stay in a quiet place for adaptive training.
"She is feeling very well in China," said Sava, who is now coaching two male swimmers in the team.
Potec brought home a gold medal in women's 200 meters freestyle from the 2004 Athens Games. Having captured numerous international medals in the World Championships and European Championships, she is recognized as one of the world's fastest women freestyle swimmers.
However, since the Athens Games, Potec has failed to win gold at many major international competitions.
To reinvigorate her career, the swimmer amicably separated from her former coach Sava and started training under the orders of her chief rival Laure Manaudou's former coach Philippe Lucas in 2007.
Potec has told reporters that she hopes the hookup with Lucas will bolster her chances of winning gold (or any medal) at the Beijing Games.
At the Beijing Games, Potec will compete in three events, including women's 400 meters freestyle, 800 meters freestyle and women's 200 meters freestyle.
Sava said Romania's swimming team hope to bring home one or two medals at the Beijing Games.
(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2008)