Star swimmer Alex Cohoon is ready to go again after the disappointment of this year’s Olympic Games.

The just-turned 22-year-old from Fairford is back at Loughborough University where he is two-thirds of the way through a three-year course and he is also back in the pool after taking a well-earned break from the sport.

It’s been a tough couple of months for Cohoon but the one-time Farmor’s School pupil is determined to bounce back and take on the the new challenges that lie ahead,

Swimming fans will know that Cohoon was left out of the Great Britain team for the  final of the 4x100 metres freestyle relay in Paris – he was replaced by Matt Richards – after playing a big part in helping them to qualify from their heat.

“I swam the third leg in the heat and I swam really well,” Cohoon told The Local Answer. “But they went for the more experienced swimmer in the final.

“I was gutted, it was really tough to take. I felt I did everything I could to be selected for the final.”

Team GB finished outside the medals – they came fifth – and Cohoon continued: “We’ll never know for sure but I believe I could have made a difference in the final.

“I know I should have been in the final.”

Had Team GB finished in the top three Cohoon would have received a medal even though he didn’t compete in the final.

“I watched the final from poolside – it was even harder watching than swimming – and I really hoped we’d win a medal,” he said.

“I had to support the team, I’m a professional. It’s not the boys’ fault that I wasn’t selected, they didn’t make the decision. They’re all my mates but it was a bitter pill to swallow.”

The former Cirencester Swimming Club member admits that the days immediately after the final were very tough.

“It was a bit sensitive,” he said with some understatement. “But I don’t mind talking about it now.

“I don’t want to bottle it all up, it’s pointless worrying about it.

“I told my coach Ian Hulme that I was never going to experience something like that again.

“I had six weeks to reflect and now there’s no looking back, I’m ready to move on.”

The long-term goal is the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 with Cohoon chasing a place in the 50m and 100m individual freestyle events as well as the 4x100m relay team.

“Paris was always a bonus,” said Cohoon, who booked his place in France with a standout swim in at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships at the start of April.

“Los Angeles was always the more realistic target.”

He thinks he has a better chance of qualifying for the 100 rather than the 50 in LA although he is keen stress that he is taking absolutely nothing for granted.

More immediately, he has plenty to aim for.

“The world short course championships are in Budapest later this year, fingers crossed I’m selected,” he said.

“Then there’s the world long course championships in Singapore next summer.”

And while he obviously wants success, he wants more than that.

“I really want to enjoy the next three or four years,” he said, “I want to be a happy swimmer.”