Carlin: Season is all about building to Rio

The 25-year-old finished second in both the 400m and 800m freestyle races but was edged out on both occasions by New Zealand's Lauren Boyle.

In 2012 Carlin missed out on a spot at the Olympics after her form dropped following illness and now she says everything is building towards April's trials where she will seek to secure her spot at Rio 2016.

"All I want to do is be at the Olympics," she said. "That's one thing I've never been able to experience. That's what I'm training for.

"Obviously the Olympics is at the back of everyone's mind, but for me first is the Olympic trials to try and get your place on the team. I don't want to take anything for granted."

While Carlin missed out on top spot on the podium in Doha she is nevertheless pleased with her early season form and confident of peaking at the right time. "It's always disappointing when you come second behind one of your rivals, but from where I am right now I'm pretty happy and definitely looking forward to the next stop in Dubai," she added.

"Some people are focusing a lot on these World Cups, whereas for us it's more like a training swim.

"It is nice to start the season off with some competitions which don't have too much importance.

"So I'm really happy with how things are going now, but it's about building on that.

"It's just about getting into the new season and I've got the European Short Course Championships coming up in December [in Netanya, Israel], so it's about getting some race practice in and getting used to racing again."

© Sportsbeat 2015