Tancock dreams of life in fast lane

Like David Beckham, he's at the top of his game - he's the world record holder in the 50 metres backstroke - and has the personalised number plate but, after that, the likeness stops.

Tancock is dating fellow Games swimmer Caitlin McClatchey, but lacks the fleet of cars enjoyed by the Beckhams - he drives his mum's Vauxhall Astra - and he lives in Loughborough rather than Hollywood.

And he chuckles at any comparison. "Posh and Becks? I don't know about that," he said. "I've heard people say that, but we're just a couple who both happen to be in the same sport, and we keep ourselves to ourselves."

The 23-year-old would relish some of the trappings of the Beckham family fortune - his lifelong ambition is to own a £200,000 Lamborghini Murcielago.

However, he admitted: "I'm no closer to getting the Lamborghini. I have, though, got a personalised number plate with Liam on it. I got it for my 18th birthday present. It's on an Astra - it's slightly embarrassing as it's my mum's car which I'm driving."
His focus, though, is on the Olympics where he will compete in the 100m backstroke and the 200m medley. Caitlin is entered in the women's 100m and 200m freestyle. But Tancock is setting no targets in Beijing.

"It's my first Olympics and I'm excited about my prospects, but all I can do is go out there and enjoy it," he said. "I'm going out there to learn from the experience."

And he is sure he will learn from the challenge of facing Michael Phelps - the American going for an unprecedented eight gold medals - in two events.

He said. "People say that Michael's a scary prospect but I'm quite excited about racing him."

In his bid to cause an upset, the Exeter-born swimmer will have his lucky charm with him in Beijing.

He said: "I'm bringing my Exeter City shirt and I'm not sure they will have seen too many of those."

It's undeniably one missing from the Beckham collection.

To find out more about Tancock, visit www.liamtancock.com