ANDREW Willis may have appeared ice cool as he booked his spot on the team for Rio with victory in the 200m breaststroke but the Bracknell swimmer admitted the nerves were jangling beforehand.

Competing against a strong field including triple world champion Adam Peaty, Olympic silver medallist Michael Jamieson and Commonwealth champion Ross Murdoch, Willis (pictured right) knew he would have to be on his game at the 2016 British Swimming Championships to put himself in the mix for Rio selection.

But he did just that on Friday night, swimming to a new personal best of 2:08.08 to dip under the Olympic qualifying time by 0.44 seconds to regain the British title he won back in 2012.

That victory four years ago marked the start of a successful summer which saw Willis eventually finish eighth at London 2012, while he maintained a streak of making every major Championship since 2010.

And after nudging out University of Stirling duo Craig Benson and Murdoch into second and third respectively, Willis admitted he had made sure to put everything out there in his quest for a second Olympic appearance.

“I knew it was going to take a lifetime best to win that and I said that months ago,” he said.

“What a race it was. I just stuck to what I needed to do. I had great confidence from the 100m, so I just had to stick to my game plan and relax.

“It’s so easy to tense up because of the nature of the final and what was at stake for some people, so I just had to stick to what I needed to do.

“I knew I could get it but I had to keep my nerve, and I couldn’t really see what was going on at the end so I just kept my head down and went for it.

“My heart was really pumping in the call room, I could feel it and it was going out of my ears, but you’re never going to get rid of the nerves.

“You just have to use them properly, so I just tried to make sure I controlled it and didn’t let them affect me too hard.

“It was such a strong field, so you’d be silly not to feel nervous for that.”

Willis’ place in the team will be confirmed next Thursday when the Rio Olympic squad is announced in Bath.

It also means he can look forward to competing at next month’s European Aquatics Championships in London as he steps up his preparations towards Rio.

The European Aquatics Championships will be the biggest event held at the London Aquatics Centre since the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will represent the last chance to see Great British athletes in action before they fly to Rio.

And Willis admits confidence is high after his Glasgow success.

“It’s great to beat those guys,” he added.

“Coming here to Glasgow and having such strong competition means you can’t take anything for granted, luckily I felt really strong and amazing in the morning but I still didn’t leave it to chance. I just wanted to carry on what I’ve been doing.

“You can play it down as much as you want but it is the Olympic trials and that it always going to be at the back of my mind.”

Tickets for the European Aquatics Championships – the biggest event to be held at the London Aquatics Centre since the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games – from May 9-22 are now available here: euroaquatics2016.london