Lewis Clareburt didn’t get the result he was looking for in the final of his favoured 400m individual medley.
The 25-year-old New Zealander had already conceded that Frenchman Leon Marchand was a class apart among the eight finalists and so it proved. But Clareburt was hoping to pick up a medal nonetheless.
Instead he finished sixth, in 4min 10.44s, nearly a second slower than he swam when winning the world title in the event earlier this year, though in a weakened field.
“I’m disappointed. I’m a better swimmer than that, but this is the Olympics and there are no second chances. I just wasn’t able to execute the race I wanted.”
Clareburt said he went out intending to be aggressive, but his plans fell apart early in the breaststroke leg, when he lost his rhythm.
After slipping to seventh during the breaststroke, Clareburt fought back to pick up one placing in the freestyle section.
“It’s been a very tough couple of years building up to this. I was hoping for a fairytale ending but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Marchand, touted as the new Michael Phelps, won in 4min 02.95s, a whisker outside the world record. He was a scarcely believable 5.67s ahead of the silver medallist.
There was better news for another New Zealander in the pool during the finals session.
Dunedin’s Erika Fairweather, hoping to bounce back from the disappointment of just missing a medal in the 400m freestyle, swam in the 200m freestyle semi-finals.
She finished fifth in the second semi-final, but fortunately it was by far the faster of the two semis, and her time was good enough to qualify her seventh for the final.
Fairweather swam 1min 56.31s, which was a fine swim, though it was overshadowed by Australian Ariarne Titmus’s qualifying time of 1min 54.64s.