With swimmers from United States and Australia all set to make a splash in the Olympic pool, India are pinning their hopes on their lone representative Shikha Tandon, who will be competing in two freestyle events.

Swimmers from India, including one of the greatest ever Sebastian Xavier, have never been able to rise to the occasion in past Olympics and this time it is unlikely to be any different.

But Shikha, who will be competing in the 50 metres freestyle and the 100 metres freestyle, is upbeat about her maiden appearance in Olympics although she is aware of daunting task ahead.

"I am confident and raring to go. The field is tough but I am not losing heart. I am looking for a semi-final place," she said.

Despite her high hopes, it may well not turn out to be a dream debut for the swimmer from Bangalore who needs to up her performance by few notches to even cross the heats.

Shikha won the silver in the Afro-Asian Games last year in Hyderabad, setting a personal best of 26.5 seconds in the 50 metres freestyle, which secured her an Athens berth.

India have never been able to make an impression in the event in past editions of the Olympics despite fielding their best available swimmers.

In the 1988 Seoul Games, the lone entrant Khazan Singh could not cross the first hurdle - finishing fifth amongst seven swimmers in the 200 metres butterfly heats.

The last two Olympics - 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney Games - were no different as Indian swimmers failed to shine with most of them not even repeating their best performance.

In Atlanta, Sebastian Xavier and Sangeeta Rani Puri in the men's and women's 50 metres freestyle events respectively were eliminated in the heats.

Xavier, whose personal best was 23.69, clocked 24.15 to end up sixth while Rani, chosen for the games over Nisha Millet, finished second with 28.02 sec.

In Sydney, Nisha got her chance but was not upto the mark finishing 37th out of 39 girls in the 200 metres freestyle.

The other swimmer from India, S H Hakimuddin fared even worse, finishing 50th in a pool of 51.

But these are the things of the past and Shikha, who won the silver in the 50 metres freestyle and bronze in the 100 metres at the Malaysian Open in June this year, promises a better show.

"I am preparing hard, I am also getting psychological training so that I don't get the big stage fright. And I hope such trainings will help me to do something which not other swimmer from India has been able to achieve."

Shikha's confidence oozes from the fact that she is the first Indian girl to complete 50 metres freestyle in under 27 seconds.

She also represented India in two Asian Games, in 1998 and 2002, and was the lone swimmer from the country to figure in the 100 metres freestyle 'A' final in Busan.

But despite all these achievements, she will soon realise Olympics is altogether a different cup of tea.