Heartache for Roebuck after finishing fourth

From David Jordan, Sportsbeat, in Istanbul

JOE Roebuck couldn't hide his disappointment after finishing fourth in the 400m individual medley at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Istanbul.

BAD LUCK: Joe Roebuck's suit fails him and he is left out of the medals (onEdition)

The 24-year-old bounced back from failing to qualify for the Beijing Olympics by finishing 14th in the 200m IM at his debut World Championships in Rome in the summer.

But Roebuck was denied his first senior medal after his suit broke and went on to clock 4:01.73.

"I'm gutted I came here to win gold and I've finished fourth I'm completely devastated, what can I possibly say?" said Roebuck.

"Right from the start something went in the suit and I was just filling with water there was nothing I could do.

"I'm fourth, I've got nothing and I'm so disappointed."

Lewis Smith, 21, finished eighth in the same event in 4:06.20, with three-time Olympic silver medallist Laszlo Cseh stealing the show by taking gold and reducing his own world record to 3:57.27.

"It went well," said Smith. "I knew there wasn't going to be a great chance of me taking a medal but I wanted to get stuck in to it and see where I came.

"In the end I've finished eighth and I can take that in a final."

Meanwhile, the women's 4x50m freestyle team finished sixth with a new English record of 1:40.12 while the Dutch quartet lowered the world record to 1:33.25.

"The swim went well in difficult conditions and to get the English record is brilliant," said Jessica Sylvester, who teamed up with Katherine Wyld, Amy Smith and Rachel Turner.

"You only have to look at the times of the other teams to know that we were unlikely to claim a medal so we had other targets."

But there was disappointment for Matt Clay who failed to progress from his 50m backstroke semi-final.

 * British Gas and British Swimming. The nation's leading energy supplier, British Gas, is the Principal Partner of British Swimming, supporting the sport at all levels: 'From paddling pool to podium'. For more information visit www.britishgas.co.uk/swimming