Pursley, who was head of United States swimming for 14 years, took up his position as Britain’s head coach in October 2008 and is set to guide the team up until the London 2012 Olympics.

Pursley said: "We had to make a decision early on as we have a philosophy of singling out one benchmark competition each year and put all our eggs in to that basket.

"For better or for worse, we have chosen the Commonwealth Games for 2010."

The Games in the Indian capital are due to open on October 3 and run until October 14 when the swimmers will compete for their Home Countries - England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

They will then join forces again for Britain's next major target will be the World Short Course Championships in Dubai, which are due to be held between December 15 and 19. 

Pursley (pictured) said: "The majority of our top swimmers will compete in the World Championships and we intend to compete aggressively there but the training approach will be looking ahead to the Commonwealth Games."

Pursley is hoping that the competitions will provide invaluable experience for London 2012, where he believes that the women's 800 metres relay team, which is expected to feature Adlington and Jackson, will be one of Britain’s strongest medal contenders.

But he has high hopes for all of the Britain's relay teams at London 2012.

"He said: "We’ve been traditionally strong in Britain in the 800m relay but our goal is to make the final and be racing for a podium spot in all six of the relays.

"We’re not there yet but we have seen improvement in all of the relays over the last two years and hope to see that continue over the next two years.

"But our women’s 800m relay team is certainly in a position to be a real contender.

"That looks like one of our best bets at this point and I think we’ve yet to see what our girls are capable of doing in that relay."

British swimming is currently undergoing a resurgence, having finished third overall in Beijing with a total of six medals, including Adlington's double gold, and sixth at the World Championships in Rome last year.

But Pursley added that he cannot take the plaudits for Britain’s success in the pool as he claims that the hard work in making the team one of the dominant forces in world swimming was done by his predecessor Bill Sweetenham (pictured).

Pursley said: "Bill did a great job of turning the whole programme around and putting it back on the map.

"Now we’ve just got a great group of coaches and swimmers here as well as support staff and infrastructure which is just building on what Bill started.

"I’m just along for the ride and enjoying it very much.

"I’m just trying to do what I can to help it continue to move forward and it’s a very exciting place to be in swimming right now."

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