Wimbledon-based fencer Jayne Crook has warned rivals she is out for revenge when she heads to the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Australia next month.

The 26-year-old finished fifth overall in the individual epee at the last championships in 2006, but threw away a golden opportunity to medal when she crashed out having negotiated the ‘Pool of Death’ in Belfast.

Crook, along with Putney’s Mary Cohen, was part of the London Thames Fencing Club to be crowned national team champions last month for the third year in succession.

And the former Kingston University student is hoping the winning habit can continue when she heads Down Under at the end of September.

“In 2006 I have a tough because there were only three people in my pool and the other two - apart from me - were Olympic medalists,” she said.

“But I managed to win the group, which made me third seed over all going into the knockout stages. A good position.

“Because of that I had a long wait until my next contest and - perhaps naively - I lost concentration and I lost a fight I should have won.

“I was absolutely gutted because it meant I just missed out on a medal. Now I want one. There is some unfinished business there.”

The women’s GB epee team are currently ranked 18th in the world and must get into the top 12 over the next two years to automatically qualify for the London Olympics.

They recently reached the quarter-finals of the European Championships having beaten three time Olympic team gold medalists Russia along the way - the first time any weapon has beaten Russia this season.

Manchester-born Crook, who took up the sport as a 10-year-old, juggles training in Roehampton with a job as a locum physiotherapist, but says the fact 2012 is less than two years away focuses the mind.

“I didn’t go to the Europeans because they like to rotate the squad but there is plenty of stuff to keep focused on over the next two years,” she added.

“There is the Commonwealths, then the world championships in Paris in November. And then the cycle repeats next year. Before we know it the Olympics will be on us.

“We are all working towards a medal and it is all starting to fit in to place. We are not far off automatic qualification and that is where we need to be.”