It’s Celtic v Chelsea in the pool
THE biggest threat to Michael Jamieson’s Commonwealth Games dream could come from his best pal.
Jamieson is hot favourite to add 200m breaststroke gold to the silver he won at London 2012.
But he needs to be wary of his best mate, g o l f i ng p a r t n e r, f o rme r f l a t - ma t e, PlayStation rival and fellow football fanatic, Andrew Willis.
Englishman Willis has been described as Britain’s fastest- improving swimmer, and he finished fourth to Jamieson’s fifth in last year’s World Championships.
“This is probably going to be the biggest event of MJ’s life,” says Willis (below).
“He’s my training partner at Bath and a really good friend. But for those two minutes in the pool, he’s my main competitor and I’ll be out to beat him.
“I know for a fact that this means more than the Olympic Final to him. For MJ, it’s going to be gold or nothing.
“He’s got a lot more to lose than me because he’s huge in British swimming. If I don’t win, I’d be very happy if he does.
“But I’m looking for a medal too. I’ve been in major Finals, and I want to be first in this one.
“The reception Michael’s going to get means it will be tough for everyone else.
“But I want to be there next to him over the last 50 metres, hearing the crowd, using the noise as well and just putting on a great show.
“I’ve made quick progress over the last couple of years and I’ve probably caught him up a bit.
“We give each other a bit of banter and stick.
“It’s very much England v Scotland and there’s a lot of pride at stake, especially for him with it being a home Games.
“We’re both fanatical about all sports. We’ll compete on the driving range, computer games, anything.
“He’s always going on about Celtic – and I’m always going on about Chelsea.
“But there was a point a few years ago when MJ wasn’t the poster boy, and there was a spare room in the house in Bath where I was living. So he moved in for a few months. “We shared the cooking and washing-up. We’re different personalities, but we bounce off each other and have such a great friendship. “It was then I got to know how dedicated he is to his sport. “I’ve never seen such self- sacrifice to be
the best.”