Beijing Olympic Games

SCOTT Miller stood in the dock and tried to explain why he had become one of Australia's fallen heroes. A tall, handsome Manly surf lifesaver with an irresistible charm, Miller had won the affection of the nation when he won an Olympic silver medal in the 100m butterfly at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

China's leaders are preparing to celebrate six decades of communist rule, but they took the once-reviled capitalist road long ago, abandoning Maoism and the old anthem The East is Red.

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN swimmer Matt Cowdrey has collected the prestigious male athlete of the year award from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) based in Bonn, Germany.

AUSTRALIA has a new medal contender after Siberian-born speedskater Tatiana Borodulina received her citizenship at the embassy in Seoul yesterday.

FORMER Australian swim champion John Konrads has been reunited with his Olympic medals _ 25 years after they were stolen.

FORMER Australian swim champion John Konrads has been reunited with his Olympic medals - 25 years after they were stolen.

MISS something? Formula One is in turmoil with a life ban on former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore overshadowing the release of the 2010 calendar.

FEISTY Australian cyclist Cadel Evans says his thoughts after a podium finish in the Tour of Spain are best summed up in a song by rock band the Foo Fighters called I'll Stick Around.

THE Australian Olympic Committee has begun testing web streaming technologies to air press conferences live in the lead-up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

Name Keri-anne Payne
Sport Open-water swimming
Age 21
Height 5ft 10in
Weight 67kg

Born to British parents in Johannesburg, Payne moved to Britain when she was 13. She now lives near Manchester and trains with the British swimming squad as part of Stockport ITC (Intensive Training Centre). Three of the squad won medals in the open-water 10k in Beijing. Payne won a silver after leading the field for two hours, and more recently a gold in the open-water 10k World Championships.

People always ask how many lengths I can do.It's like asking how many breaths can I take. I could do lengths all day - but there's a limit to how much it's advisable to do.

I started swimming at four. I couldn't wait to get in the water. I could do proper front crawl at five, and by seven I was good at all the strokes. At eight I was pulled up an age group because I was beating all the eight-year-olds - until the parents of the nine-year-olds made me go back down because I was beating them too.

I've just come back from a race in the Hudson. It was ridiculous: big waves, jellyfish and lots of boats making it choppy. I came out with a bloodied nose, a black eye and sore feet. It's not necessarily on purpose - you're all trying to get around the same turning point - but it's a tough sport.

After my face got hit I was seriously contemplating not carrying on. Everyone has feelings of wanting to get out and curl into a ball, you'd be a robot if you didn't. But I have never stopped so I didn't.

We will always get male attention: I am in a swimming costume three quarters of my life. But I'm a professional swimmer at the end of the day; that's my job and if I can be glamorous as I do this that's a plus - but I wouldn't get a big head from it.

Weeds are just something you have to deal with. I'm lucky - the second open-water swim I did, thousands of jellyfish were stinging me everywhere so there isn't really anything that fazes me now. Except sharks.

All our training is indoors. I swim about four hours a day, as well as gym work. Nothing we do is easy, there is nothing to enjoy. The only time it gets easier is when we start tapering in the last four weeks before a competition.

My life revolves around toast. I have toast before the morning swim, toast when I get back from the gym, toast before I go swimming again ...

My favourite body part is my hair. It's the thing that turns me from the swimmer going up and down the pool to the lady that I am [laughs].

• Payne is in the Great East Swim, a one-mile public event, on 26 Sept (greatswim.org)