Silver for Jamieson

Great Britain's Michael Jamieson won an Olympic silver medal in the 200 metres breaststroke behind a world-record swim from Daniel Gyurta at the Aquatics on Wednesday night.

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The 23-year-old enjoyed a shoot-out down the final length with the Hungarian, who was forced to lower Christian Sprenger's mark to two minutes 07.28 seconds, Jamieson just 0.15secs adrift.

Gyurta's victory put paid to Kosuke Kitajima's hopes of becoming the first male swimmer ever to win the same event at three consecutive Games, the Japanese athlete won the breaststroke double at both Athens and Beijing.

However, he was fourth on this occasion and the only man who can now achieve the feat is Michael Phelps who can secure three consecutive 100m butterfly titles.

Kitajima's countryman Ryo Tateishi was third in 2:08.29.

Given Jamieson had entered the meet with a personal best of 2:09.84, it means he has cut 2.41secs off his time.

Only three swimmers have ever gone quicker with two of them in performance-enhancing suits in 2009 and it remains to be seen how far the Bath ITC swimmer can go.

He said: "I knew I had a bit left after last night, I ran out of pool space a bit at the end there but I'm absolutely delighted with the silver.

"This result tonight is what I have prepared for for I don't know how many years.

"It's only in really the last 18 months it's become a target and not just a pipe dream.

"I think that's probably why I was quite calm before the race, there weren't too many nerves just excitement.

"I think that is because I had gone over it so many times in my head, I'd prepared for it in every way I could really."

The Glasgow-born swimmer knew he had a low 2:08 "brewing for a while" but admits he was shocked to have gone as quick as he did.

His performance at the Olympic trials in March was the turning point, Jamieson knowing he had a big drop in time within him.

With a former semi-pro footballer father who played for the likes of Alloa and Stenhousemuir and a mother who was a competitive swimmer - "loosely, she enjoyed swimming" - Jamieson has reaped the benefits of growing up within a sporting environment.

The swimmer, though, insists it was the work ethic they passed on that he has benefited from.

He added: "I don't really think I've got real elements of talent.

"One thing my mum and dad have passed on is an attitude to work hard.

"I think that is the way I've looked at it the past couple of years, that if I train harder than the guy next to me then I'll hopefully get the rewards at the end of it.

"It's been a pretty long journey, so many people involved in it and I really want everyone who has been a part of it to feel this has been a journey for everyone not just myself."

Bath team-mate Andrew Willis was eighth in 2:09.44 despite having qualified third in an English record of 2:08.47.

"I would have liked to have gone quicker but it was just a great experience to have been in the race," Willis said.

"Michael deserves it, I'm really happy for him. He's capable of great things and we've seen that today."

Gyurta won a silver medal in Athens in 2004 at the age of just 15 and knew he had been in a real battle with the Briton tonight.

Gyurta said: "It was a really hard race. In the last 20 metres I saw Jamieson and the other British guy, they were so fast in the last part.

"It was hard for me, but I managed to do it."

Britain's Jemma Lowe was a highly-creditable sixth in the 200m butterfly as China's Jiao Liuyang added the Olympic title to the world gold she won last year.

Lowe had squeezed into the final in eighth place and gave it a real go, turning third at halfway and battling down the final length to touch in two minutes 06.80 seconds.

Her sixth-place finish was one better than at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai.

Jiao's time of 2mins 04.06secs was a new Olympic record as she upgraded her silver medal from Beijing.

Lowe said: "Michael Jamieson - absolute legend getting that silver medal, I'm really pleased for him, he deserves it as much as everybody else does. It's just great that the team is getting medals."

However, she admitted she had hoped to force her way into the reckoning having made the final by the skin of her teeth.

"I am still a little bit disappointed that I didn't get my dream but I'm also happy that I made a final at my second Olympic Games.

"I've definitely got hopes for Brazil (2016 Olympics), I still feel quite young, so I've still got a lot to give, and see what the future brings."

Fran Halsall was similarly inspired by Jamieson as she qualified for Thursday night's 100m freestyle final.

The 22-year-old former world silver medallist had been distinctly unimpressed by her heat swim, which she had expected to be "all butterflies and rainbows", but 53.77 and joint fifth overall was more to her satisfaction this evening.

She said: "It's been fantastic and it really gives you a buzz, and having MJ in before me I was like, 'MJ can do it, I've got to keep it going for the team'.

"It was really good, and it's nice to be part of people being succesful and knowing that you're a part of that."

Amy Smith, though, was 14th in 54.28 so missed out on the final.

James Goddard qualified for the final of the 200m individual medley in which he was fourth at last year's World Championships behind Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps and Laszlo Cseh.

The Stockport ITC swimmer was joint seventh fastest in 1:58.49 although team-mate Joe Roebuck missed out in 11th.

Goddard, though, was not especially happy, saying: "I'd like to have gone quicker to be honest, I feel like I put a lot more in but it's just not happening.

"I'm not quite sure why. I just hope I can do something special tomorrow night."

The 29-year-old claimed London is "by far the best" of the three Olympics he has attended.

"It's a real experience to get a home Commonwealth Games (2002) and a home Olympic Games in my career has just been a real honour," he said.

"My daughter there in the crowd watching me swim in an Olympic Games is hopefully something she'll remember for the rest of her life and I just hope I can make her proud."

In other action on Wednesday, Nathan Adrian destroyed James Magnussen's ambition of adding the Olympic title to his world crown when the American out-touched him by one one hundredth of a second in the 100m freestyle.

Magnussen, known as 'The Missile', had been the red-hot favourite coming into London but doubts arose when the sprint freestyle relay squad finished out of the medals.

The race was a proper head to head down the second length with Adrian taking the title in 47.52 seconds.

Rebecca Soni set a new world record of two minutes 20.00 seconds in the semi-finals of the 200m breaststroke.

The defending Olympic champion already held the Olympic record but Annamay Pierse was the world record holder, setting the mark at the 2009 World Championships in Rome.

It was the second world record of the night after Gyurta's landmark in the 200m breaststroke.

In the final action of the evening in the pool, a United States team consisting of Missy Franklin, Dana Vollmer, Shannon Vreeland and Allison Schmitt won the gold medal and broke an Olympic record in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay.

Australia finished second to take silver with France winning the bronze.

Britain's quartet, who finished fifth in 7:52.37, comprised Caitlin McClatchey, Rebecca Turner and Jo Jackson, with Eleanor Faulkner replaced by Hannah Miley.

Both Faulkner and Rebecca Adlington have got the 800m freestyle heats in the morning and a decision was taken in the best interest of the relay to select the team they did.

For Jackson it rounded off a topsy-turvy week which started with misery when she failed to make it to the 400m freestyle final in which she was the 2008 bronze medallist.

The Loughborough ITC swimmer has also endured health problems over the last couple of years so she was unwilling to make any firm decision over her future, except that she would be doing a charity bike round across Zambia in October.

She said: "At one point last year I didn't think I was going to be here, so to be here with the best people in the world, the team that we're on at the moment is just fantastic.

"It's been a good week with highs and lows but that's what careers in sport are all about."