Swimming: Sweetenham challenges 'complacent' British team

As the British Short Course Championships drew to a close here last night, Britain's national performance director, Bill Sweetenham, made it clear in his parting comments that he has no time to listen to excuses.

Five weeks have elapsed since the Commonwealth Games, the home nations' most successful competition in the pool, a period sufficient to continue the form that brought 38 British medals in Manchester according to Sweetenham, the former Australian Olympic team coach.

"The swimmers have got to hold it out for five weeks – we haven't kept the ball rolling," he said. "Since Manchester there's been too much complacency, too much self-gratification. There can't be a comfort zone with top-level swimming. Everyone has made excuses why they can't swim fast here. I'm used to athletes who can perform regardless of the conditions. I'm not interested in people who make excuses.

"We had a mixed bag of results here, and we can do a lot better. These championships weren't exactly exciting. The Olympic medals will be won in the next eight to 12 months so we've got to move away from the peripheral areas and focus on the core issues."

His message will echo in the ears of a number of swimmers over the next few days, although there were several, like Adrian Turner, who will be exempt from Sweetenham's comments. Turner's fairytale comeback continued with two titles either side of just a 15 minute break.

Less than two years ago the 25-year-old was close to losing his life when his body began rejecting its own red blood cells, requiring six transfusions and costing him a place at the Olympics. "I nearly died and it gave me a different perspective on things, said Turner, who added the 200m breaststroke and 100m individual medley golds to the two medals he won at the Commonwealth Games.

His victories were followed up by his training partner Stephen Parry, who clinched his fifth title of the meeting in the 100m backstroke, equalling the English record of 53.15sec in the process.