Great Britain swimmer Liam Tancock says he is hoping to make it third time lucky in his bid for an elusive Olympic medal by competing at the Rio Games in 2016.

The three-time world champion and massive Guinness World Records fan competed at his second Olympics in London this month when he finished fifth in the 100m backstroke and fourth in the 4x100m medley relay.

The 27-year-old from Exeter says that while he was happy with his performance, he remains determined to represent Team GB one more time and finally clinch a place on the podium at an Olympic Games.

'My plan is very much to go on to Rio,' Tancock told guinnessworldrecords.com. 'I'm aiming to rest up for a month, have a holiday and see family and friends, then begin preparations for the World Championships next year, but my ultimate aim is to go on to Brazil in four years time."

Liam began swimming for fun at the age of five and started his swimming competitively at the age of eight at Exeter City Swimming Club in Devon and continued at Loughborough University where he studied sports science.

He began competing at senior level in 2005 and currently holds the world record for the fastest long course 50 metres backstroke (male), with a time of 24.04 seconds registered during the final at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy, beating a world's best time he had earlier set in the semi-finals.

Liam admits that one of his proudest moments of his career so far has been making it into the Guinness World Records book, having been a regular reader as a child.

"Me and brother Ryan got the book pretty much every year," he revealed. "We always used to say we'd be in it and I always hoped I would make through swimming, but if it would have meant growing my fingernails long, or eating three cream crackers in the world's fastest time, I would have done it!"

He added: "The year I first appeared in the book I remember picking up a copy in a shop and racing through the pages to see my record and a picture of me - it really was a special moment."

"I picked up a copy for my parents as they always used to get a copy for me, but what was really nice was when my brother handed me a copy that his wife had bought him for Christmas and asked me to sign it!"

Despite missing out on a medal, Liam says he was blown away by his experience at London 2012.

"The support we received from the stands and from the wider public watching on TV and giving us backing on the likes of Twitter and Facebook was phenomenal.

"I'm so proud to say I wore the Team GB colours and represented by country at a home Olympics - not many people can say that in their lifetime".

Watch Liam's record-breaking swim at the 2009 World Championships below.