Slowly but surely Commonwealth champion Chris Walker-Hebborn is collecting titles from the world’s biggest swimming competitions.

The 24-year-old first qualified for the World Championships back in 2009 but took his first senior international medal in the 4x100m medley at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi a year later.

Since then he has showed continual improvement with silver in the 100m backstroke at the European Short Course Championships in 2013 backed up by a stellar 2014.

That was a year that saw Walker-Hebborn step up to the mark and stake a claim for being one of the best England has to offer.

Triple gold and a bronze at the European Championships in Berlin came off the back of gold in the 100m backstroke and 4x100m medley at Glasgow 2014.

And silver in 4x50m mixed at the short course World Championships capped an outstanding year for Walker-Hebborn and he believes he can keep going from strength to strength.

“I’ve just got to try and keep myself grounded following last year. There are still two major international competitions I have not medalled at yet,” he said.

“I’m happy with how my summer went but I’ve got to keep focused and working hard and then hopefully the results will follow.

“With the Commonwealth Games, it’s a tough one to pick out a highlight between the individual and medley relay.

“The individual was my first international medal so I was really happy with that. But then the medley relay was absolutely amazing. To be a part of the team which beat Australia to get gold was a great feeling.

“I much prefer the Games time environment, being with the team, eating together, mixing together. It’s a much better experience in my opinion.”

Next up for Walker-Hebborn will be the British Championships where he enjoyed double gold last time out.

And a repeat performance is on his radar this year as he looks to keep his momentum in the pool going ahead of the World Championships this summer.

“The British Championships are a great bench mark to see where you are in your training and preparations,” he added.

“Obviously they also double up as qualification for the World Championships as well so the pressure is there.

“The times are quite tough this year, everyone will have the same mindset in London so fingers crossed it all goes well.”

 © Sportsbeat 2015