Ellen Gandy admitted to her disappointment after finishing eighth in the Olympic 100m butterfly final at the Aquatic Centre on Sunday night.
The Bromley-born competitor went in lane one for the event which saw gold medal winner Dana Vollmer smash the World Record in a time of 55.98.
Gandy touched home in 57.76 and although she stressed how special it was to be part of such a special race, she conceded she was disappointed with her personal display.
“I was just hoping for a faster time. When I turned around I didn’t think it would be that time.” She explained.
“It was an amazing race. To be honest I am a little bit disappointed with my personal performance but it is amazing to be a part of a race like that where history is made.”
The Commonwealth Games silver medallist will look to make the final again when she competes over 200m on Tuesday and believes the experience of having competed in an Olympic final will stand her in good stead.
“It puts me in a good position. I have got used to the series of semi finals and finals so I am excited to get into my main event now,” she continued.
“It gives me some confidence. I have got all of the nerves out now so I can purely focus on my 200m rhythm and I can’t wait to get into it.”
She added: “I will probably have the whole day away from the competition pool tomorrow and refocus, get into my butterfly rhythm for the 200m and just focus on that now.”
And the Australian-based swimmer had only good words to say about a vocal home crowd as she was given an almighty cheer when she introduced before the race.
She enthused: “It was amazing. I was the first swimmer out so it was everything all at once. Nothing compares to a home crowd.
“Everyone was telling us what it would be like but it still doesn’t compare to how it actually feels having all of those people screaming for you.”
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