Gemma Spofforth on fire at Scottish Championships

GEMMA Spofforth believes she is in the form of her life, having blitzed her way to double gold at the British Gas Scottish National Championships.

MEDAL HOPE: Gemma Spofforth could be one of Britain's best medal chances at the World Championships next month

The 21-year-old backstroke specialist arrived in Glasgow up against it, having forgone the chance to book her place at next month's World Championships. when she opted to remain at her American training base at the University of Florida, rather than compete at the British Championships.

But having smashed the British record on the way to 50m victory, she was on cruise control in the 200m as she clocked 2:07.56m.

And Spofforth insists she still has more to come with the countdown to next month's World Championships now well and truly under way.

"I definitely wasn't expecting to be swimming this fast this evening. It was a good race though and it was great to be pushed hard for the first few lengths," she said.

"I was so tired earlier though I really wasn't expecting to do my best tonight. In fact, I'm not sure I have done my best. There's more to come from me in this event.

"I'm really pleased with how my underwater kicks went there - it's been something I've been working on in training and it's always nice to see things like that come off."

Spofforth came under criticism when she decided to remain in Florida in March and base herself at the short course facilities in the Sunshine State.

But having romped her way to double victory, Spofforth, who missed the podium at the Beijing Olympics by just 0.04 seconds, insists she has proved the critics wrong.

"I think performances like these definitely prove the doubters wrong," she added.

"There have been some who've said my short course training in the USA can't be good for my long course performances but if you look at what I've done this week, there's clearly no truth in that argument.

"I'm not shy of taking on lots of races, that's what we do as swimmers. You get used to it and it's always great practice to keep swimming more races."

 * The nation's leading energy supplier, British Gas is the Principal Partner of British Swimming, supporting the sport at all levels: 'From paddling pool to podium'. For more information visit www.britishswimming.org