Team GB swimmer Tom Derbyshire has insisted that he is feeling positive despite missing out on a medal in the men's 1,500m freestyle final at the European Games this afternoon.
Derbyshire was eliminated from the 400m freestyle yesterday and could only manage a sixth-place finish in the final of the 1500m today, finishing almost 26 seconds off gold medallist Nicolas D'Oriano.
However, the 17-year-old struggled with illness during the build-up to the inaugural Games in Baku, and was happy with his performance under the circumstances.
"I just wanted to give it my best really. I had a bad build-up to the event so I just thought I'd give it my all and see what I could do," he told Sports Mole.
"I'd been ill. I had to miss about two to three weeks of training so I wasn't expecting to do my best. Well not a best time, but as long as I gave it my best effort I was happy. I couldn't have given it any more. It's a great experience.
"I've learned a lot this week so I'm hopefully looking forward to other meets in the future. I'm not going to get down from this, I'm just going to learn from my mistakes and things that I've done then build on it for future meets."
Team GB have won four golds, one silver and two bronzes in two days of swimming action at the European Games.
Derbyshire, meanwhile, will take part in the 800m freestyle later this week for the first time in almost three years.
Barney Corkhill
