Gibson eyes Olympic gold

"I had a good start, kept my rhythm and came through at the end. I have learned how to swim the 50m under pressure and I was relaxed as I went into the race. The feelings I have now are just amazing.

"I have expected a lot of myself this year. I have moved away from the shorter distance to concentrate on the 100m Olympic event. The 50m is my fun competition now.

"Next year is the big one for me. I aim to go to the Olympics in Athens looking for the same result but in the 100m event."

Gibson is only the second individual Briton to win a gold medal at the world championships. In 1975, David Wilkie won the 100m and 200m breaststroke titles in Colombia after picking up the gold two years earlier in the 200m.

Gibson cannot chase the title in the event he won here, because the 50m breaststroke is not on the timetable at Athens. The event has only been an accepted championship distance for the last three years, which is why Gibson believes people think of him as a late developer.

"I've always been quick, but there wasn't a race over 50m until three years ago so I couldn't show it," he said. The only Olympic event over 50m is the freestyle, despite world championships having the breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke sprints in their timetable.

Gibson, who gave up drinking this year as part of his further-commitment to training, has an outside chance of another medal with the medley relay team on Sunday.

It was mixed fortunes today in the women's 100m freestyle for Kathryn Evans and Alison Sheppard who were drawn in the same heat.

The 30-year-old veteran Sheppard from Glasgow came fifth in 56.17sec to claim 15th spot in the semi-finals, but Evans, 21, missed out.

Bath's Robin Francis qualified in 13th spot for the semifinals of the 200m individual medley in 2.02.50sec where Australian Ian Thorpe, who has already won three gold medals, could manage only equal 14th place.

Edinburgh's Gregor Tait easily made it into the semis of the 200m backstroke recording the sixth fastest time of

1.59.62sec but James Goddard was disappointing finishing 25th fastest in the heats.

Britain's 4x200m women's freestyle relay team qualified in fourth place for the semifinals in 8.05.65sec.

Britain will have a further chance to claim a men's breaststroke medal this evening after Ian Edmond qualified second fastest for the 200m final in a British record time of 2min 10.69sec.