Fran Halsall will step out tonight for the 100 meters freestyle final after finishing joint fourth in her closely contested semi-final at the Aquatics Centre.
A near blanket finish in the faster semi-final meant joint fourth place for Halsall was enough to qualify, while team-mate Amy Smith finished eighth.
The 22-year-old from Southport said she was happy with her performance and watching the medal-winning displays from her Team GB team-mates have spurred her on.
She said: “I don’t think it matters what time people do in the rounds, I’m in the final and that’s all that matters now. I’ve got some left to give and I felt really smooth this evening and much better than this morning. It’s going to be fingernails at the end.
“Watching Bradley Wiggins in the cycling time trial was so much fun to be a part of, I’ve had tweets from the rowers and it’s just so nice to be a part of something like this.”
Smith, although disappointed not to make the final, is looking ahead to her second event, the 50 metres freestyle on Friday. She said: “I have another race so I need to put this one behind me and move on now. The 100 is my best event but you never know. I’m not going to look at it as my second event, I’m just going to go in and swim.”
Jemma Lowe finished sixth in the 200 metres butterfly final, which saw China’s Jiao Liuyang clinch gold with an Olympic record 2:04.06.
Disappointed with her swim, Lowe said: “I dreamt of getting a medal so obviously I’m disappointed. My best time would have meant I’d have got a medal here but today I obviously didn’t have it in the bag so there’s nothing I could do.
“Last night I was so happy that I’d made the final so I was really looking forward to it and I knew I was going to give it my best. Obviously it didn’t happen but I’ve given it absolutely everything in training this year and I have no regrets, I couldn’t have prepared better, it just wasn’t my day today.”
The women’s 4×200 metres freestyle relay team finished fifth in the final that saw the American quartet take gold in an Olympic record.
Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
