Jones, who made her Olympic debut at Sydney in 2000, had considered retiring after the 2008 Beijing Games but her decision to take a sabbatical has only rekindled her interest in going to London.

 

He said: "No one [swimmer] on the Australian team has ever done four Olympics.

 

"It would be a pretty big thing if I chose to continue and physically there is no reason why I can't go on.

 

"Physically, I am in very good shape and I am actually enjoying the training, I like that side of things."

 

Jones burst on to the world stage as a 15-year-old in Sydney, winning silver medals in the 100 metres breaststroke and medley relay, and has since established herself as one of the greatest female breaststrokers of all time.

 

In her three Olympic appearances, she has collected eight medals, including three gold, as well as winning seven World Championship golds and setting a stack of world records.

 

She missed this year's World Championships in Rome to take a beauty school course but continued training and showed she had lost none of her speed or competitive instincts by breaking the short-course world records in both the 100m and 200m in Berlin earlier this month.

 

Jones said: "I am one of those rare athletes that enjoys training.

 

"There is no reason why I couldn't as I will only be 27 [in 2012] in London."

 

 

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