Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Todd Cooper, and I will be blogging for the Shuttle over the coming weeks, in the lead up to the Beijing Olympic games.

I competed in the Athens games in the 100 metres Butterfly. Now 4 years later, and a little more experienced, I’m fortunate enough to experience the Olympics once more.

Thus far preparations have gone fantastically well, knock on wood, and I couldn’t be happier. A little over two weeks ago I competed in Liverpool and swam some pretty quick times. On Friday we depart for a 10-day preperation camp in Osaka, Japan. I’ve been before, and it’s a fantastic place for our team to get ready for the Games; fantastic facilities, great food and crucially, lots of places to relax. After that its on to Beijing, and down to business.

Over the past few days numerous people have asked me if I’m starting to get nervous. For most Olympians, myself included, it isn’t about nerves such much as it is about excitement. We’ve trained and applied ourselves for the last 4 years in anticipation of this, and now its time to reap the benefits from all that hard work; I’m excited to see how I’m going to do.

At the same time its important for me to manage that excitement level, and maintain relaxed. For me the best way to keep calm is to listen to music. Music has always been a big part of my life and whenever I feel stressed I just throw on my headphones and drift away.

I have fairly eclectic musical tastes but at the moment I’m going through a 70’s phase. My Ipod is permanently set to Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan just now. Come race day I’ll change that for something a bit more upbeat, something that is going to get my blood pumping.

Onward to Japan.