My role, along with the 26 other ambassadors, all Olympians, is to provide support to the British team and the British Olympic Association to make sure the athletes have all they need to be the best they can be. Predominantly I'll be working with the swimmers. It's great to be part of the team without having had to go through trials, it's the first time that's happened to me!
As we've taken part ourselves, we know a lot about competition and the thought process behind winning. If we can strengthen the team in its ambition to win golds, then it's helpful. Only once you've experienced the Olympic Games do you understand what it feels like and come 27 July 2012, the people of Britain will start to understand what it feels like to be part of the greatest show on earth.
It's a strange feeling coming up from under the water to breathe a few metres away from winning or losing a gold medal. There are maybe seven billion people on the planet, and you ask yourself, "Why should I be the one who wins?" Anybody meeting me will know how fallible I am — I spill soup on my tie and trip over my shoelaces. Hopefully the 2012 competitors will think, "If he can do it, I can do it."
My favourite Olympic memory, apart from my gold medal, is my first ever international competition for Great Britain, at Montreal, 1976. As I got level with the block in one of the first heats, Her Majesty the Queen walked in. At just 19 I won the heat and broke the Olympic record in front of the Queen. It felt pretty darn good.
Winning the gold medal, I remember grabbing the block and holding it, knowing my life would never be the same. It felt as if I was holding it for minutes, but it wasn't even half a second!
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