Lowe is among the leading contenders to bring a medal home to Hartlepool from the Beijing games, with the 18-year-old ranked in the world top five for both the 100 metres and 200m butterfly, with the heats of the 100m getting underway tomorrow afternoon.

In the 100m times since January, Lowe lies fifth with her British record of 57.78 seconds – just under a second behind the world's fastest Australian Lisbeth Trickett and fellow Aussie and world record holder Jessicah Schipper.

Lowe is even better placed in the 200m, lying third behind France's Aurore Mongel and Yuko Nakanishi who has swam the fastest time this year of two minutes 6.38 seconds.

The competition is fierce in both events though with just 1.3 seconds separating those ranked first and 10th in the 100m.

It is even tougher to separate the top 10 in the 200m, with only 0.75 seconds between them.

Lowe realises it will all come down to who performs on the day of the final and has not ruled out the possibility of the Chinese swimmers coming into the equation in their homeland.

"We don't know what the Chinese are doing because it has all been low
key and none of their swimmers are on the rankings," she said.

"Allegedly there was a story that they were taking all their swimmers to some secret location for training."

She added: "I think I have raced against most of the top 10 in each event once or twice.

"We are talking give or take a second between us so it all depends on
what happens on the day.

"I suppose it makes it more exciting for everyone who is watching!"

Lowe is the British record holder in both of her events, but thinks her best chance may come in the 200m – the event she won at the British Championships.

Her other chance of a medal comes in the 4 x 100m medley relay.

Lowe was part of the side which won the European Championships earlier this year with a European record and Britain will be one of the favourites to repeat that success at the Olympics.

The Borough of Stockton swimmer admitted that she was more concerned about the relay than either of her individual events.

"I am more scared for that one than the individual because it is a team event and you don't want to let anyone down," she said.

"We have done quite a lot of practice as a relay team.

"Everyone is saying that is our best chance of a medal, but you still don't know what the Chinese will do."

He added: "I like the 100m better because it is a sprinty event, but I think the 200m is my best one.

"I am not as powerful or muscly as some of the other ones for the sprint."