After a rocking night in London, 2012 was music to my ears

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It was an amazing feeling to wake up in London, just 100 yards away from the Games site.

My girlfriend, Caitlin, and I had come down to the capital for the New Year's Eve Re:Wired gig at the O2 Arena.

Zane Lowe got the crowd going then Chase & Status ramped things up a bit before Kasabian, who I'd seen before and were brilliant, played and then counted in 2012.

Strangely, there wasn't a wow moment that we'd finally entered the Olympic year but I'm still not sure how we got here. After all, it just seems like the other day we were one of the candidate cities hoping to be awarded the Games.

I had a perfect Christmas as we got three days off from training and I headed down to Exeter to see my family.

Around that time, I got a chance to try out a Lamborghini.

It has always been a dream of mine to own one and I got a track day as a present to drive one, which was pretty cool. If a car could describe me as a swimmer, I reckon it'd be that - the power, aggression and shape of it. I absolutely loved it. I have no idea how fast I was going as I was concentrating on the track and making sure I didn't fly off.

The problem is I want a Lamborghini even more now.

Back to training, I got back in the water for the first time on the 27th and I felt pretty refreshed from being back at home.

I'm not really thinking about the Olympics at the moment. Of course, they're the big thing this year but I have to break up the season and next for me is the British Gas Swimming Championships in March.

It'll be my first chance to swim in the Olympic pool. I've been inside the Aquatics Centre already and it looks amazing.

To prepare, I'm off with my training group to Tenerife in a couple of weeks. Last year flew by and I get the feeling it's going to be the same in 2012.

Follow Liam on Twitter @liamtancock