In the latest of our series with North-East Olympians ahead of London 2012, Richmond swimmer Joanne Jackson looks back on her bronze medal success in Beijing and tells Scott Wilson how it has helped to secure British swimming’s financial future.

I’M BACK in full-time training at Loughborough now, but every now and then I take a little bit of time out to think about everything that’s happened in 2008. Whatever way you look at it, it’s been a brilliant year.

I’m an Olympic medallist now, and that was always my target when the season started.

There were ups and downs along the way, but I got there in the end and I’m really proud of that.

I did everything I could at Beijing and to come away with something to show for it was fantastic. The fact that Becky (Adlington) won the gold medal in the same race made it even more special. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me they watched that race and were really proud of what we both achieved.

The Olympics were an incredible experience and I’ll be holding that thought in my mind as I go through the next four years. Knowing that London is just around the corner makes it a little bit easier when you’re jumping into the pool at six in the morning.

I’m going through that process at the moment, and to be perfectly honest, it’s not that easy. There’s always a bit of a comedown after an Olympic Games, and four years seems a long time to have to wait to do it again.

But that’s not to say there aren’t other things for me to aim for. There are World Championships in Rome next July, and the first set of trials for those are in March. So the next couple of months will be vital in terms of recovering my fitness to make sure I can perform at my best.

The winter months aren’t particularly glamorous – a lot of the time, it’s just a case of ploughing up and down the pool – but it’s those sessions that win y o u medals. If you don’t pull your weight now, you’ll regret it when the c h a m p i - o n s h i p s c o m e around.

THE funding for the next four years was confirmed this week and we were all really relieved that swimming didn’t get its funding cut.

I think UK Sport realised that we’d had a really good Olympics. We came back with medals, and the more medals you get, the more likely you are to get the money you need.

The National Lottery and the Government are putting a lot of money in ahead of London 2012, and I know some people have talked about the amounts that are being spent.

But as a full-time athlete, I can’t over-emphasise how important that money is. Back in 2004, I had my funding removed because I didn’t have a very good Olympics in Athens.

I got it back when I made finals at the World Championships the following year, but for 12 months I had to make my own way.

It was tough. I was living at home with my parents, so that helped, but it was really, really hard to get by. I was doing a 60-mile round trip for every training session and my family had to help me out because I couldn’t afford the diesel.

I live away from home now, so I simply couldn’t survive without funding. This week’s news gives us all a bit of security.

It’s one less thing to worry about in the next four years.

THE level of funding a sport receives comes down to performance, so we’ve all got to say a massive thank you to Becky.

Her two gold medals have really raised swimming’s profile in the public mind.

I’m going to the Sports Personality of the Year awards next weekend and I would urge everybody to vote for Becky.

I know I’m biased, but she’s a really great girl who has been totally unaffected by her success.

I’d love it if I was watching her giving the winner’s speech next weekend.

■ By buying a National Lottery ticket you have helped enabled British athletes, including Olympic medallist Jo Jackson, to train full time with world-class coaching and support.

■ For more information on how Lottery funding benefits British Olympic and Paralympic athletes visit www.uksport.gov.uk.