Each week between now and the beginning of the 2012 Olympic Games, AWPI's Road to London series will profile a member of the Aussie Stingers or Aussie Sharks team. This is your chance to get to know the stars of the show a little better.

Alicia McCormack in action for the Stingers, during their gold medal win at the 2012 Water Polo Pan Pacs (Anthony Pearse/Pearse Photography)

Every four years the Olympic Games produce many great stories of Australian athletes and their quest for Olympic selection. These range from setbacks from injury and illness, to history making runs and those of heartbreak.

But here's one that is slightly different.

Australian Water Polo Inc. sat down with Aussie Stingers' goalkeeper and Beijing Olympian, Cronulla's Alicia McCormack, to discuss all things London as well as her personal journey towards the London Olympics.

AWPI: So Alicia, how are preparations for London 2012 going?

Alicia: Really well. As a team we are all really happy with what we have achieved in 2012, but we also realise that our wins against the USA at the Water Polo Pan Pacs and in Sydney were six months out and that a lot can happen in between then and July.

We also have the approach that each game we play, we have to win. That's something that our coach Greg McFadden has really instilled in the team and it is something that has really helped us to believe that we are the best in the world.

AWPI: Now, just explain a little bit about your relationship with your navy clearance diver boyfriend?

Alicia: Well yes, both my partner and I live interesting yet busy lives that make supporting each other and balancing family time difficult. With my water polo training and travels and his career as a navy clearance diver and its associated training and travels, we definitely have some interesting stories to tell when we are home together.

It's quite often, though, that when he's away, I'm home and when I'm away, he's home.

So I guess for the preparation for the Olympics it's good as I can focus on my training 100 per cent, but then on the flip side it would be nice to be able to have someone to bounce things off.

AWPI: Do the girls in the team quiz you about what a navy clearance diver does?

Alicia: The girls do ask a lot of questions about being with a navy clearance diver, but thankfully I don't ask too many questions myself. There's also the fact of when he is away I'm not allowed to know where he is, so that usually stops the girls there.

AWPI: You got a bronze medal with the Stingers in Beijing in 2008! What is different between the preparation back then, and the preparation now?

Alicia: To be honest, I'm a little more scared of this Olympic preparation as I really want to make the team, and I have a lot more riding on these Olympics, as this will be my last campaign.

In 2008 it was all exciting and new and I didn't really know what was in front of me. But this time I know what is in front of me and what this team can achieve - so to not be a part of the team is a scary thought.

AWPI: Is that what is driving you?

Alicia: Definitely! The prospect of not being in the squad of 13 does make you train a lot harder so I'm really looking forward to taking that next step. Beijing was fantastic and I'll never take away the fact that we got a bronze medal, but I haven't achieved everything that I want to achieve.

Ever since Beijing, I've told our coach Greg that in 2012 I want to be in the water in the gold medal match. That's been the other thing that has driven me, not just making the team and being there in London, but to be in the water when it counts.

AWPI: And how's your training and progression going?

Alicia: For me personally, I believe I am progressing very well. I have felt good in the water and I have really enjoyed my year in the National Water Polo League with Cronulla. We have a new coach down there and we've had a lot of young girls that have come into the squad. That has definitely kept me inspired to keep on training and playing hard.

McCormack, 28, and her Aussie Stinger teammates have just completed another training camp down at the AIS in Canberra, with the squad of 17 getting ready for their next series of international competitions.

On April 30, a team of 13 will travel to London for the London Olympic test event featuring Great Britain and fellow top sides America and Hungary, while a second team will fly out a day later to contest the FINA World League preliminaries in China.

In the meantime, the girls will continue their journey in the national league, with McCormack's Cronulla Sharks, also featuring fellow Stingers Nicola Zagame and Holly-Lincoln-Smith, taking on league leaders Brisbane Barracudas and Queensland Breakers this weekend.