The fact that Aimee Willmott made it to the start line at these Commonwealth Games was an achievement in itself.

That she made off with the gold medal in the 400m Individual Medley is not far short of miraculous after her year from hell.

In the last 12 months the Middlesbrough swimmer has been forced to move training bases from London to Stirling, suffered a freak injury when she slipped and fell on a boat on a British Swimming camp and underwent knee surgery.

But none of that could distract the 25-year-old from the task at hand as she upgraded her silver from Glasgow four years ago, holding off her old rival Hannah Miley to finish top of the pile at the Optus Aquatics Centre.

“Less than 12 months ago I had a bit of an accident, I broke two ribs and had a compression fracture in my spine, while I was already struggling with my knee,” she said.

“It was not the best timing, it felt like a disaster, I didn’t know if everything would heal properly and if would be able to swim – and I had knee surgery.

“For about four months of the last year I have not really been in the water or even doing land work.

“It was from September when I moved to Stirling I had to start from scratch. All the physios and support network built me bit by bit back together. 

"It took a long time, the first step for me was to qualify, I missed my opportunity at the world championships so there was a lot of pressure to get right in three months and perform in December.

“I did the job and not in the best time, but from there, everything was OK, the injuries held up, it was a case of building on that and hoping it would come together.”

And it came together in some style – Willmott also managing a fourth-place finish in the 200m butterfly on the Gold Coast.

And the support she has received from back home has proved absolutely vital in her success - with hopefully more to come in the Europeans later this summer.

“It is really nice to think about the people that have helped me, my family in Middlesbrough, the people in Stirling, they have helped me fit in quickly at such a late point in my career, it is really nice to have something to show for it.

“It will be a huge confidence boost, I still can’t believe that I got a gold medal and was first rather than getting my hand on the wall second.

“Once that sinks in and I get back and I sit down and look at the race with my coach, there will be few areas that I know I need to improve on still.

“So going into the Europeans there are few things I will need to pick up and work on, hopefully I can progress on what I have done here time-wise and carry my form.”

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