Stephens shares her admiration for competitor McIntosh

By Paul Martin in Paris

Laura Stephens said it was a privilege to share a pool with Summer McIntosh after taking part in her first Olympic final.

The Colchester swimmer, who became a world champion in the 200m butterfly earlier this year, finished eighth in the Olympic showpiece as Canada’s teenage sensation took centre stage.

McIntosh, 17, set a new Olympic record of 2:03.03 on her way to her third medal of a memorable Games and the experience has left Stephens wanting more.

“Summer is having a great summer, isn’t she,” she said.

“She’s a fantastic athlete and a brilliant performer. To step up on a stage like this and do what she does is an inspiration and it’s truly special to be in the pool racing an athlete like that.

“In terms of crowd and atmosphere, it was everything you would have dreamed of for a first Olympic final.

“Unfortunately, my own performance was not everything I would have dreamed for.

“I was hoping to step up from what I did last night in the semi-final but I didn’t have that gear. I tried my best and put it all out there but the result didn’t come to me.”

Stephens, who started out at Harwich Swimming Club before joining Colchester, narrowly missed the final in the same event on her Olympic debut in Tokyo and described herself as ‘over the moon’ to make it through this time around.

The 25-year-old occupied lane eight and clocked 2:08.82, more than two seconds outside her personal best.

“The qualification process took out a lot more than I would have hoped for,” she said.

“If I’d had a better qualification, it would have settled me into the competition a bit more.

“But I didn’t, so I had to go for it a bit more in the semi-final and put in something big just to book that lane for tonight.

“That’s something to reflect on ahead of other big meets like this. We’ll go back to the drawing board,I’ll talk to my coaches about and we’ll take it from there.”

Stephens is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing her to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support.

She was backed by a hearty contingent of supporters who had been denied the chance to witness her Olympic bow and expressed her gratitude to those who enable her to continue living her dream.

“This has been much more enjoyable than Tokyo,” she said.

“Friends and family in the crowd have travelled to see me and I’m just so grateful for their support.

“Beyond just my family and friends, there is everyone at British Swimming and everyone who plays the National Lottery back in the UK.

“Our support network is so big and we can’t sing praises enough for everyone who backs us. We can really feel it all behind Team GB.”

National Lottery players raise more than £30million a week for Good Causes including vital funding into sport – from grassroots to elite. To find out more visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk