Willis misses out on 200m Breaststroke podium

Andrew Willis was just 0.08 seconds shy of the podium as he finished fourth in the 200m breaststroke final on day five of competition at the Rio Olympic Games.

The 25-year-old National Centre Bath swimmer qualified second fastest for the final, but was stung by an outside burner from lane eight as Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Balandin snatched a shock gold in 2:07.46.

“I gave it everything and I stuck to my plan to go out quick, pace myself then come back strong,” said Willis.

“The action was right in the outside lane. I couldn’t see what was going on out there. It was another solid time for me so it’s definitely happening with the time and I knew that would be there or thereabouts.

“The positive is it’s a higher finish than London 2012. I’ve progressed my times pretty much and I kept my head as well. I do feel like I approached that final in the right way and that’s why it’s all the more disappointing that I’ve finished just short.”

British 200m Breaststroke record for Renshaw

Loughborough swimmer Molly Renshaw clocked a British record 2:22.33 to qualify third fastest in the 200m breaststroke semi-finals.

Molly said: “It’s nice to have the British record back. That swim was amazing. I’ve wanted to go 2:22 for quite a while. After being off that at trials, it’s nice to be finally making the big drop here.

“I knew I had to go out a lot faster than the morning. My back end is strong but I know if I want to make the big drops, I’ve got to make them in the front 100m. So I tried to take out the race but still stick to my long counts and keep the hold down the last 100m.

“It’s amazing to be third fastest for the final. I think I came into this ranked 12th so to be up there feels amazing. I’m sure people will step it up but hopefully I can as well.”

Wales’ Chloe Tutton also made it through to tomorrow night’s finals with a time of 2:22.71 to finish seventh fastest.

View full results from the day five swimming evening session over on the Rio 2016 website.