After a “fairly successful” year in which he showcased his talent at two of the biggest swim events on the world stage, Keanan Dols is now looking ahead to bigger and better things.

Though some things did not pan out how he would have expected last year, particularly where training is concerned, Dols remains fit and excited about the prospects this year.

In fact, the University of Pennsylvania senior believes the Olympic Games and FINA World Short Course Championship experiences will certainly serve him well to achieve new targets and possibly represent Jamaica at the 19th FINA World Aquatic Championships in Japan and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

“The expectation for this year is as always to keep improving and focus on my weaknesses,” Dols told the Jamaica Observer.

“I have a lot of room for improvement in my weaker strokes and I’ve been focusing on improving those because I’m really looking forward to both Long Course Worlds in May as well as Commonwealth Games in August and I’m hoping to make some finals at Commonwealth Games. So those are my main motivation for this year,” he added.

Dols, who was the third Jamaican swimmer to qualify for an Olympic Games since the start of the century and the seventh male in the country’s overall history, placed third in the heats of both the 200-metre butterfly (2:00.25) and 200-metre individual medley (2:04.29), but failed to make the final of both events.

Still, the Westmoreland native beamed with pride as he reflected on the Olympic debut showing, which was followed by times of 2:00.52 and 2:04.50 at the recently-concluded 15th FINA World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi.

“Last year was a great year for me. I not only got to my first Olympics but was best times in my primary events. The short-course metres isn’t something I do often as I’m still swimming in college, so it was another new opportunity to do something different,” Dols said.

On both occasions, Dols played a supporting role to champion swimmer Alia Atkinson, as the 33-year-old called time on her decorated career.

“I believe it’s always beneficial to race on the biggest stages the world has to offer and it was also a great experience to be a part of Alia’s last meet and cheer her on. So there are a lot of good things to build on as the next Olympic cycle begins,” he noted.

However, the 23-year-old admitted that like most athletes, he had to overcome some challenging periods of his budding career and credited his teammates for being the wind beneath his wings when he felt like giving up.

It was after the intervention of teammates during one of those low moments that Dols was empowered to clock a best time of 2:00.15 at a meet in California, which is currently the Jamaican National record for the 200-metre individual medley (IM).

“There were definitely some lows and tough times in practice, but I could always depend on my teammates to bring me through those.

“Because of their support, I was able to put up the time I qualified for the Olympics with in the 200 IM at the Mission Viejo meet and that alongside participating at the Olympics were definitely my biggest accomplishments of the year,” Dols explained.

“So I am just continuing to work hard and enjoy the process. I’ve got great teammates and a great support group that makes swimming every day enjoyable. I’m very grateful to be able to do what I do and I’m excited for the future,” he ended.