BRITISH Swimming head coach Bill Furniss is backing Swindon’s Jazz Carlin to put any nerves behind her and produce her best at the Olympic Games.

The 25-year-old, who now lives in Bradford on Avon, let the pressure of qualifying get the better of her at the British Championships in April, which doubled as the Olympic trials.

However, Furniss said Carlin showed the mental strength to stand her out from the rest as she claimed the qualification time in the 400m, her final event.

Carlin is deep in training now, with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games just three weeks away, and Furniss is confident that she will produce her best on the biggest stage of them all.

“We know Jazz, she is very good in the arena normally - the bigger the event, the better she swims,” he told the Adver. “I am glad she got through that (the trials) and I am sure she will be firing on all cylinders for Rio.

“I think her coach, Dave McNulty, did a great job with her (at the British Championships). She swam a good 200, it was the second fastest 200 that she has swam, so I thought her 200 was very positive.

“By her own admission, she struggled a little bit in the 800m and I think that was just pressure and she proved that by turning around in the 400 and, in not a world-class race, swam a world-class time and did an automatic qualifying time.

“It was a bit of a rollercoaster for Jazz but certainly she would have benefitted from that experience because she went through a lot of pressure. That is performance sport “Quite often it is recovering from disappointments and learning to handle big events and big pressure moments.

“What is important is that she handled it, she turned herself around and she produced a great performance to get on the team.”

Furniss knows that anybody who goes to an Olympic Games needs to be at their peak if they are to stand a chance of claiming a medal.

However, if the Tigersharks swimmer, who is now based at the University of Bath, can produce a personal best in either the 400m or 800m she could find herself on the podium.

“You have got to be at your best for one moment in time and it has got to be absolutely perfect and that is our challenge with her and the rest of our team between now and Rio,” said Furniss. “We are looking to get the majority of our team to swim their seasons or lifetime bests.”