Payne plays down favourite tag (From Bucks Free Press)

Payne plays down favourite tag

8:04am Thursday 9th August 2012 in National Sport © Press Association 2013

Keri-Anne Payne will dive into the Serpentine on Thursday looking to upgrade her silver medal from Beijing and claim Britain's first swimming crown.

Payne won silver in Beijing and has subsequently claimed two world crowns to be cast as favourite.

The 24-year-old is adamant the nature of open water, with the different types of course, renders that meaningless.

She said: "You can see from the results over the last couple of years: I was second in Beijing, I won the worlds after that but then the worlds after that I came 10th and then in Shanghai I won.

"So it completely depends on who is the best athlete on the day, who makes the right decisions and the best decisions and so I just have to go in and focus on what I have to do and then hope for the best."

Some practice on Wednesday was focusing on the finishing board which competitors have to slap at the end of the race, which is higher than usual here.

Of Payne, open water manager Mark Perry said: "She's in good spirits, she's on form I think.

"She changes as the race gets closer. You can tell when she's got her game face on.

"She's definitely up for the race now."