Mark Foster may be 38 but the veteran British sprint swimmer is confident he can still make a splash in Beijing.

The short-course specialist has won six gold medals at the World Championships over the years and has also set world records but so far making the podium at the Olympics has passed him by.

Foster, from Essex, forced his way back into the top 10 of the world rankings when he became the first British man to dip under 22 seconds and reclaim his national record in the 50 metres freestyle at the Golden Bear meet in Zagreb last month.

The Essex swimmer had decided to hang up his trunks in 2006, but made a remarkable comeback when he qualified for a fifth Olympic Games after winning the 50m freestyle final at the British Championships in Sheffield in April.

The veteran, though, accepts he will be up against it to claim a long overdue Olympic medal in Beijing.

"I would not stand on the block thinking I could not win it,'' he said, "but I am also a realist and appreciate people have gone very, very quick.

"My event is so hit and miss, all over in 20-odd seconds. But if I can get all the elements right, then I could get on the podium - but there are another 10 or 15 people at the same level so it is tight.

"However, what is probably more surprising is that I am still doing what I do at this level at my age.''

Despite now preparing for a remarkable personal milestone of five Games -his first coming at Seoul in 1988 - Foster cannot help but feel it should have been more.

Four years go, he was controversially denied the chance to compete in Athens after winning the British trials under the Olympics qualifying standard, but being outside the mark laid down by then national team director Bill Sweetenham.

A change at the head of British swimming has since followed, but the whole episode still irks the Essex swimmer.

"Say I was world champion, Olympic champion, world record-holder, odds-on favourite, but had a stomach bug on the day of the trials, or had a broken finger and could not swim, under our system, I would not go to the Games, because you have to do the qualification at the trials,'' Foster reflected.

The 38-year-old, though, feels the new regime has a bright future.

"It is all water under the bridge now,'' said Foster, whose gold at the 2004 World Short Course Championships in Indianapolis more than proved a point.

"With Bill Sweetenham, he was very much old school, a dictator, do as I say. He treated everyone like kids.

"There has been a change now, Michael Scott, who is a lovely guy, has come in. It is now a lot more relaxed, a vibrant and upbeat place to be.

"There is a lot of British talent out there, these Games will be a great experience for them and most of them will be in their prime for London 2012.''

Foster will head off to the Team GB camp in Osaka later this month determined to end his personal quest for an Olympic medal, but fears swimming is in danger of losing its identity through the new, faster suits which leave athletes "looking like sharks'' as they chase quicker times.

The likes of Australian Eamon Sullivan and Alain Bernard, of France, are two of several swimmers who have been breaking world records following the launch of the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit.

The suit has special panels of water-repellent plastic and ultrasonic welding, so there are no seams, which reduce drag on the body.

FINA, swimming's international governing organisation, have ruled the controversial costumes will not be banned from the Games this summer, and other manufacturers have since followed suit by bringing out their own versions.

Foster, though, feels with the use of such science, the sport is losing some of its core appeal.

"These new suits are giving people something like a two percent advantage, which over my distance is half a second, half a body length. That is a huge difference,'' he said.

"When you look at it as a purist, I would like to see people back in swimming trunks, but that is not happening because technology is taking over and every manufacturer is making these new suits.

"I don't want it to get to a point, like in Formula One, where the person with the best design in their suit is going to win the race rather than it being the best swimmer.

"I would rather we went back to swimming trunks for blokes and bikinis for women, which lets face it made the sport more attractive anyway. Now we all look like sharks or whales.

"But I guess it is like anything nowadays - you have to either grasp technology or get left behind.''

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