Nineteen gold medals, from a country with 60 million people, makes Britain pound for pound the greatest sporting nation in the world.

There is no doubt that when lottery funding came on board, in the late 1990s, it heralded a new era in British sport - one where athletes could focus on being elite without having to work to support their training.

The country took another giant leap forward in 2002 with the formation of the English Institute of Sport (EIS).

The EIS aims to provide high-quality sports science and medical support throughout the United Kingdom. There are now 17 sites, delivering services to more than 1,700 elite athletes.

With the Olympics in London on the horizon, I thought it was time I went to see what happens behind closed doors.

As you walk through the glass-fronted building's revolving door, you are immediately hit with an atmosphere of elite sport. Although the public do get to use these facilities, this is no local leisure centre.

I really wanted to go and explore, but there was no time for that. I had to meet my "shrink" and host for the morning, Pete Lindsey.

I took a left through the double doors and found Pete in one of the offices at the end of the corridor. Considering his job title, Lead Psychologist, I was expecting an elderly gentleman in a lounge suit and bow tie, perhaps smoking a pipe, behind a closed oak door.

However, Pete was in a tracksuit, sitting behind his computer and with no chaise longue in sight.

Pete Lindsey, right, on the ropes at EIS Sheffield. Photo: BBC

We spent two hours discussing the human brain - making use of a plastic one on the desk in front of me - and how it affects performance. Pete spoke about how he works, through the coaches and support staff, to give athletes every possibility of performing without any psychological restrictions.

Without wanting to give too many of the nation's secrets away, he trains athletes in the art of "systematic processes of pressure training"!

My interpretation of "sport psych" and its role in the EIS is to give British athletes every chance of fulfilling their potential at a home Games. This programme is all part of project "Home Advantage", where Britain maximises a Games on home soil.

For Team GB, Sydney 2000 was about dealing with the excessive travel and accommodation. Beijing had the pollution and political issues as hurdles for the athletes. London 2012 will be about dealing with the incredible pressure that comes with competing at home.

Pete gave me a tour of the facilities, including the four basketball courts - where, incidentally, the women's British volleyball team were practising - athletics track, and cricket nets, which were in fantastic condition.

Then came the state-of-the-art gyms, physiotherapy area, psychology rooms, boxing gym (merging pictures of past legends with amazing 21st Century technology), table tennis centre and, to top it all off, a snooker facility.

The place was like a Hogwarts School of Sports, and I could have spent all day there, exploring and learning.

There is no doubt the services they offer, from biomechanics to medicine, nutrition and performance analysis, are all helping Britain excel at Olympic sports.

However, I'm not sure any discipline will be needed more than psychology if the British are to, once and for all, kill off the perception that their athletes "bottle it" on the biggest stage of them all.

Last year at the Olympic Games in Beijing we won three medals; two golds for Rebecca Adlington and a bronze for Jo Jackson.

Fast-forward 50 weeks and the British swimming team have won seven medals and never looked so good at a World Swimming Championships.

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The success has come in spite of a feast of 43 world records being set, our double Olympic champion having a far from perfect week, and six fourth-place finishes that could have been podium performances.

It all bodes well for London in three years time.

We have also seen first hand this week what a difference a home crowd can make.

The Foro Italico has produced a unique atmosphere at the 13th World Swimming Championships and anything the London organising committee for the Olympic Games can do to replicate the way this event has been staged will be welcomed by the athletes, coaches and spectators alike.

Great Britain were only been beaten by Denmark in the amount of national records set, which is a fantastic indication of the improvement across the board.

By almost every measure this team is better than all previous World Championship teams. It has the largest number of finalists, the most national records, team points accumulated and, of course, medal podium performances.

Jo Jackson has been the star performer for me this week with medals in the 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle.

She missed out by a whisker on a medal in the 200m freestyle but if she had managed to be a fraction quicker and beat Allison Schmitt of the USA to the bronze, we would be talking about her in the same breath as the world's best multi-eventers like Libby Trickett, Stephanie Rice and Katie Hoff. OK, the medals aren't gold yet, but would you bet against her achieving those lofty heights?

It was fantastic to see Jaz Carlin produce a world-class performance in the 4x200m freestyle, and in so doing help Caitlin McClatchey, Adlington and Jackson to a European record and bronze medal in the relay.

Domestic competition is the key to driving success on the world stage and over the next few years I believe this quartet will spur each other on to having a formidable 4x200m freestyle team.

If Jackson was the star performer this week, then Gemma Spofforth produced the best performance for Britain with a championship-winning swim in the 100m backstroke in a new world record time.

Both her frame and attitude are impressive in equal measure. Her time in the USA has taught her to race tough and her disgust at not winning a medal in her new-found 200m backstroke is an indication that she is never satisfied.

The catalyst for British swimming's new-found confidence was undoubtedly Becky Adlington's two gold medals in Beijing.

By her lofty standards she was off the pace this week, and yet still won two bronze medals in the 200m relay and 400m freestyle.

She has not been helped by the suit situation at these championships, wearing a textile/polyurethane composite, but my belief is that her failure to make the podium in 'her' event - the 800m freestyle - will put fire in her belly that will rage so fiercely that the rest of the world should watch out.

At any point during the last 50 years her two medal performances would have been seen as unrivalled success, but this is a new team and nobody's expectations are higher than her own.

I got a little emotional seeing 19-year-old Fran Halsall produce a medal in the 100m freestyle. She beat some of the best in the world to finish runner-up in this blue-ribbon event.

She is raw sprint talent and is learning to hone her skills under the tutelage of coach Ben Titley. From the age of 15 she has been talking about the allure of a home Olympics and how great it would be to win a medal there.

The girls were flying the British flag single-handedly until the powerhouse that is Liam Tancock entered stage right in the final session. It took him 24.04 seconds to break the world record on the 50m backstroke, and secure some gold for the lads.

Backed up with a fourth place in the 100m backstroke, Liam is in the form of his life and is keen to concentrate on his stamina for the Olympic distance.

'Suitgate' is over for now and we'll be returning to textile suits from 1 January, 2010.

No matter what your opinion is of the 43 world records we have seen this week, one thing we can all agree on is the leadership from world governing body Fina was at best very weak.

I like to see world records, and although 43 is excessive it did make for exciting sport, which has attracted a different sort of fan. My concern is by winding back the technology clock 10 years it means the records set here are unattainable for a generation.

I'm not convinced the suit saga is over and fully expect Fina to reverse their decision at some point in the run up to the London Olympics. One thing is for sure, it won't effect the revolutionary improvement of the best swimming team Great Britain has ever seen.

I love my job in the mixed zone at major meets. My home for 16 sessions of swimming here in Rome is a 70cm by 90cm box with a 1.2m wall separating myself from the athletes.

It's not the most luxurious place to be housed with 200 other reporters all vying for a piece of the victorious athletes in the 35 degree heat, but I do get the honour of speaking to the world's best swimmers immediately after their performances.

Of course it's the Brits I look forward to speaking to most. I can empathise with the emotional highs and lows and pressures that come with donning the national tracksuit.

As if that wasn't enough her friend Becky Adlington added that they broke the European record and won a bronze medal because they all wore the same lucky pants. Mel Marshall, a retired world number one in the 200m freestyle sent all the girls pink 'lucky pants' before the 4x200m freestyle, and Becky seemed to think they worked.

Apparently, this is a long-standing tradition that has been with the team for many years and has only now come to light.

Obviously, with the tone well and truly lowered the rest of the interview was conducted in a relaxed manner with the girls bouncing off each other. To me this demonstrates why the GB team is becoming so successful.

They have adopted UK Sport's no compromise approach to training and performance, and at the same time are obviously enjoying the journey.

The girls have won four medals here, all in Olympic events, with a possible three more to come.

For years we have had the right support staff in place with bio mechanists, physios, psychologists, nutritionists and experienced coaches, but the mindset of the team has changed.

They demand success and all believe they can achieve at the highest level. Adlington was obviously the stand out performer last year, but now shares the limelight with warriors like Payne, Jackson, and Spofforth.

Of course the big guns of Adlington, Jackson and McClatchey contributed to last night's medal as they always do, but the key factor in GB standing on the podium was the emergence of another world-class swimmer.

For years Great Britain has lacked a quality 4th swimmer for the relay but with Jaz Carlin posting a world class 1.56, honours was secured. Jaz is an extremely exciting talent - I managed to catch up with her this morning inbetween her drug testing commitments, and although she counts Becky and Jo among her role models she is determined to take them on at a domestic level.

She sees the 400m and 800m freestyle as her best events and at 19,with a European record and world bronze medal in the bag, I see no reason why she can't be key to more GB success on the international stage.

Seeing Gemma Spofforth standing on top of the podium with the weighty gold medal (it's the size of a side plate!) around her neck led to goose bumps and shivers down the spine.

The girl never stops smiling, but her broad grin grew by a few extra centimetres as the Union Jack made its way up the flag pole.

Her performance was testament to her character, and added to her fierce reputation. Gemma dedicated the swim to her late mother who passed in late 2007, and who is always in her thoughts.

Prior to Tuesday night, her best performance at a major games was fourth in Beijing last year, and that hurt even more on the last day of the Games when she led off the womens' medley relay team in a time that would have won an Olympic medal.

Fourth is the worst place to finish in the pool and Gemma has been very open all year that last year's events in Beijing have been a fantastic motivation for her. The fire in the belly acted as a catalyst to relentlessly pursue excellence.

Although last night was her first international medal, the girl is a legend on the US university circuit. She trains in Gainesville, Florida with world-class talent like Ryan Lochte.

We're not talking about regular UK university competitions here. In terms of depth the American College championships are the highest quality meet in the world. The best swimmers from around the globe all want to receive a scholarship from one of the many thousands of universities so they can chase their dreams with like-minded individuals and study at the same time.

Gemma is one of only a handful of British swimmers to win a US university title. However, she didn't stop at one - Spofforth has won five in her first three years - three on the 200m backstroke and two on the 100m backstroke.

Although she is not eligible for a lottery grant through British Swimming, she gets the full support of the Florida University paying for food, books, accommodation, insurance and tuition fees.

I love to hear her talk about her enthusiasm for the sport. She openly admits that if she hadn't made the change and gone to Florida to train and study, she probably would have given up after her injury-hit year in 2005.

We all know how important coaches are in all sport and the same is true in swimming. Watching Martin Wilby (Florida coach, but here at the World Championships with Surinam) and Gemma interact at swim meets is a joy. They don't seem to have a strict authoritarian approach to the art of coaching.

Back in Glasgow where Gemma qualified a month ago she joked her improvement was from giving up 'candy'. She and Wilby had a bet that they would both give up one of their vices. Martin side of the deal was giving up chewing tobacco.

The Americans would call Gemma's swim a "break out" performance the Brits might say it was "pretty good". The net result is the same - she has banished some demons and is overflowing with confidence, which means the rest of the world had better watch out for years to come.

Two hours in the water is hard core - I've heard people call it swamp-swimming! I took a trip down to the famous Colosseum to chat to Keri Anne-Payne about her victory in the 10k open water - where two Roman centurions took a shine to more than her gold medal...

There's a substantial sweepstake among the world's media here at the 13th World Swimming Championships on what the final world-record tally will be.

My guess at the beginning of the week was an optimistic 25. But in the first two days alone, there have been 10.

Looking back I should have added another dozen to in order to give myself any chance of bringing home the bacon!

There has been much said about the legitimacy of these World Championships with 'Suitgate' dominating the headlines. My perspective on the issue is simple.

There is much more to a World Championships than what happens in the pool. The meeting of many nations brings an opportunity to make friends and share cultures.

I met with a rather anxious Mr Davenport yesterday in the British Swimming supporters club, hours before his son, Ross went in the 200m freestyle semi-final. Of course we chatted about the swimming but he also pointed out what a great place 'Roma' is and how well the spectators are catered for.

St Peters, the Sistine chapel, Trevi fountain, and the Colosseum provide great tourist attractions during the day but a little closer to the pool is the World Championship village.

The temporary village includes two sets of tennis courts which have been converted to water polo and synchronised swimming centres. A temporary 'street' plays host to bars, cafes, restaurants, shops, a concert dome and a 20-metre swimming pool for children.

About 400,000 visitors are expected here during the tournament, and all can take their pick from a choice of pizza, pasta and wines on offer from several bar and cafes.

Yesterday I saw a schools' gala taking place in the 20m pool and heard shouts in Italian that even I could understand: "Fede! Fede! Fede!" Of course a reference to their heroine Pellegrini who could yet win another gold medal here on Wednesday.

I'm not one for boy bands but there was a Busted 'wannabe' band entertaining a few hundred people in the temporary plaza last night.

I saw Becky Adlington's mum tapping her feet and enjoying the atmosphere with some other GB fans. We all had a good laugh and exchanged opinions on the evening's swimming until I realised I was late for the bus and had to leg it.

It may not sound like much but there are so many opportunities to make Olympic sports appealing to the spectators. I hope we can entertain the hundreds of thousands of people that come to visit London for the Olympics in three years' time.

I have no doubt we will be successful in the sporting arena in 2012 but let's hope we give visitors a positive cultural experience of our amazing country too.

After watching our girls win two of the medals in the 400m freestyle final on Sunday night at the Foro Italico, I believe we are witnessing the emergence of a dominant aquatic duo, the like of which British swimming has never seen before.

I watched with pride and confidence last night as Rebecca Adlington produced a gutsy swim from the dreaded lane eight, a position she found herself in due to an under-par performance in the morning heats.

She showed the grit and determination which won her two golds in Beijing last year. Her time of 400.79 was nearly three seconds quicker than at the Olympics, and although frighteningly fast was only good enough for bronze.

Such is Adlington's competitive spirit that I believe had she been in the middle of the pool with the big guns, her time would have been even better and she may have made a convincing assault on the title.

It was Jackson who had the good lane placing going next to Federica Pellegrini, the Italian home favourite. The hairs stood on the back of my neck as Pellegrini was introduced to the 17,000 capacity crowd. The noise the Italians made when 'FEDE' was introduced was similar to the rapturous applause Ian Thorpe received at the Sydney Olympics.

Jackson later joked she thought the applause was for her and it got her excited to race. There is no doubt Adlington and Jackson have superior endurance and when they both turned within touching distance of the Italian with only 100m to go I believed we were going to see a repeat of the Olympic final with Adlington and Jackson flying past the Italian to take the honours.

However, the 200m world record holder has learned her lessons well and she had saved her final gear for the last lap, moving away from the Brits in emphatic fashion whilst also destroying the rest of the field.

It's hard to pick a swim of the evening for reasons I'll get onto, but until 12 months ago I did not think it would be possible for a woman to go under four minutes on a 400m freestyle. Some may think I'm exaggerating but I believe it to be an equal achievement to Roger Bannister's four-minute mile. These three swimmers have turned this event into a sprint, and in so doing have broadened the horizons of the rest of the field.

The Foro Italico played a big part in Pellegrini's victory and I believe Adlington and Jackson will push each other onto even greater things. Jo and Becky will continue to bring great success to British Swimming, and unlike Coe and Ovett these champions might just pull it off without dividing the opinion of the sporting public. Hold onto your hats for the 800m freestyle, as there is another two medals there for GB as well.

As for the other events it's hard to know where to start. Paul Biedermann erased a guy called Ian Thorpe from the record books with a world record by 1/100th of a second in the 400m freestyle. By his own admission, he said the suit helped a lot, but he has been training hard.

The 200m individual medley world record was ripped to shreds by Ariana Kukors of the USA going an astonishing 2.07.03. GB's Hannah Miley broke the British record in the same race and stands a great chance of winning a medal in the final.

The Swedish ranks have been bolstered by 15-year-old Sarah Sjostrom, who broke the100m fly world record that had been standing for nine years. She is a huge teenager and I believe she can be competitive in a number of events including 100m and 200m freestyle.

Finally, there were two more world records in the ladies 4x100m freestyle relay with Olympic champion Britta Steffen breaking her own world record with a blistering 52.22. This wasn't enough to secure them the crown as the Dutch team came home in 3.31.72, smashing the world record in the process.

Its fair to say if this is the benchmark of performances for the next week we're all in for a treat!

If you thought it was five star-luxury for the best swimmers in the world, think again - come with me behind-the-scenes at the Foro Italico to see what the competitors face before a race...