Adlington sets new Olympic record

Rebecca Adlington set a new Olympic record in the 800m freestyle heats as six British swimmers reached finals.

Adlington, who has already won the 400m women's freestyle, set a new mark of eight minutes 18.06 seconds.

Fran Halsall, Gregor Tait, Liam Tancock, James Goddard and Cassie Patten also reached finals.

But Mark Foster, Great Britain's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, went out after finishing 23rd in the 50m freestyle heats in 22.36 secs.

Foster, a five-time Olympian, said he always felt deep down that a medal was beyond him but admitted he had hoped to make it out of the heats.

"Being the racer I am, and with what I've achieved over the years, I did expect a little bit more," he told BBC Sport.

"I think I was more nervous than I have been for a long time. I started thinking it might be my last Olympics - I'm disappointed with the way I swam. I just felt awful while I was swimming it."

France's Amaury Leveaux set a new Olympics record of 21.46 to go through as the fastest qualifier, one one-hundredth of a second ahead of Brazilian Cesar Cielo-Filho.

Foster was followed into the pool by Adlington, the new star of British swimming.

The 19-year-old was under world record pace for much of her heat before coming home in a new Olympic mark to be the fastest qualifier for the 800m freestyle final, which will also feature Patten.

"I did not expect that at all. I'm really pleased with that," Adlington told BBC Sport.

Asked if she was looking forward to Saturday's final she said: "Definitely, definitely. It's going to be good."

In the men's 100m butterfly heats, Croatia's Milorad Cavic set a new Olympic record when he touched ahead of Michael Phelps in 50.76 secs.

But British pair Michael Rock or Todd Cooper both failed to progress to the semi-finals.

The final two British swimmers in action on Thursday, Lizzie Simmonds and Gemma Spofforth, both made in through to the semi-finals of the women's 200m.