Olympics 2008

Hi, I'm Karen Pickering and I'm in Beijing working for BBC Radio 5 Live.

I competed at four Olympic Games so it's interesting to be on the other side of the fence here with the media.

There are some great races to look forward to at the Water Cube, of course Michael Phelps and his quest for eight gold medals being a highlight, but I'm also excited to see the events I had my international success at; the 200m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle relay.

I was never fortunate enough to win an Olympic medal (editor's note: But Karen did win eight World Championships medals (four gold) and 13 Commonwealth Games titles (four gold) and was awarded the MBE for services to swimming!) - I got fifth a couple of times but I never got it right on the day.

I won 35 medals in major championships - would I swap them all for one Olympic medal? You know what, I would consider it! At the opposite end of the spectrum is someone like my fellow swimming reporter and blogger Steve Parry - he never won a Commonwealth or World title - but he did win an Olympic bronze and he will always be known for that.