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Britain's Gemma Spofforth has admitted she almost quit swimming after losing her 100m backstroke title at the World Championships in Shanghai this week.

The 23-year-old spent last night pondering her retirement but on Wednesday morning made the decision to continue and

Spofforth said: "It was a huge decision to make overnight. A lot of thought went into it. I didn't get much sleep.

"But I decided this morning that it's 100% commitment from hereon in."

Spofforth, who arrived in Shanghai on a bad run of form and suffering from food poisoning, after finishing 23rd fastest on Monday, prompting the 23-year-old to consider her future.

But following a night of soul-searching, Spofforth, decided to continue in her pursuit of Olympic glory in 2012.

"Last night there was a really big decision for me - whether I should do one more year or whether I should give up because this year hasn't been fun and 2009 was maybe my time," she added.

"I came down this morning, had a relatively good race, got through and realised that this is where I want to be.

"Next year is the one and I am only going to do it if I really want to do it and if I have one inkling over the next couple of weeks that it's not the right thing for me then I will quit but now it's 100% commitment."

Spofforth admitted that she first questioned her future during the Commonwealth Games in Delhi where she won three silver medals.

"I've been thinking like this for probably quite a few months leading up into this competition and it has been on the edge [of my mind]," she said.

"You can only do this sport if you are 100% invested and this year hasn't been 100% for me.

"It's been a disappointing year all round, the trials were even bad so I'm going to go back and get in shape again."