YOUNG swimming star Simon Le Couilliard had his dreams of making the 200 fly final crushed this morning.

After choosing to be the only member of Team Jersey to miss yesterday’s spectacular opening ceremony, in order to concentrate on his qualifying race today, the youngster failed to even get close to his personal best.

At 11.30 am Melbourne time (12.30 am in Jersey) the 19-year-old swam in his strongest event but could not pick himself up enough to match a strong Australian and New Zealand field.

He finished in fourth place, with a time of 2 min 4 .49 sec, just under two seconds away from this PB.

Earlier in the week he had hoped to smash his own record by two, or even three, seconds to ensure a place in the final and a call-up for the British team in the forthcoming European swimming championships.

But after the race even he could not figure out why he had put in, by his high standards, a poor performance.

‘I felt really good after the first 50 metres and couldn’t see it going wrong.

I felt good, I was focused, relaxed and ready for the race.

‘I knew the pace was quick so had to make sure that I was careful, but perhaps I was too careful.

I am very disappointed and I just hope the boys can pick me up today in time for tonight’s relay.

‘This is a big blip for me, but I’m going to keep going.’ Team manager and coach Paul du Feu added: ‘It’s bitterly disappointing for Simon and until we talk about the race I just don’t know what went wrong.

But he’s a committed lad and I’m sure he’ll bounce back for the relay.’