Daniel Wiffen's bridge too far after much thrills in the pool

And so in the end it was our man doing the chasing - but it was all in vain.

There would be no double gold for Daniel Wiffen. It was Bobby Finke giving the masterclass that many expected Wiffen to give in the 1500m freestyle final. Finke leapt from the blocks like a man possessed, intent on retaining his Olympic crown and breaking a world record that had stood for 12 years.

Wiffen was giving chase but Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri was between him and Finke. The gap to the leader varied between two and three seconds but Wiffen didn't seem himself and when the advantage extended to over three seconds, we kind of knew the defending champion would not be caught.

Paltrinieri tried his best in second, but all our focus was on the American, hoping that he would break the world record that had stood for 12 years.

Like Peter O'Sullevan's commentary on Red Rum's third Grand National win when he uttered the words "they're willing him home", the packed La Defense Arena were also urging Finke to touch the wall in a time never done before.

And that he did in 14:30.67, breaking the 14:31.02 set by China's Sun Yang at London 2012. Three years ago in Tokyo, the Florida native claimed gold in a time of 14:39.65, and now he's nine seconds faster.

Wiffen's rate of improvement is also astonishing, when compared to the Tokyo Games. His current 800m national record is now more than 12 seconds better at 7:39.19, while his latest 1500m record of 14:34.07, which he set at the World Championships in February, is an improvement of just above 33 seconds.

Wiffen said after the semi-final that he would need to smash Yang's record in order to win the 1500m. In the end, he was proved right.

"And I'm so happy to be done with it because I don’t have to deal with