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British record for Derbyshire's Davenport and team as they miss out on Olympic medal

13 August 2008

The British quartet reduced the national record from the 7:07.89 they set in the heat to a new mark of 7:05.92, but it was not enough to win a medal as the USA team dominated from start to finish.

Ross, from Belper, swam the final leg of the relay.

He said: We thought we could do it, we believed we could, so it's a bit devastating. But we have lowered the GB record by something like six seconds over the last day or so, and we are a young team with more to come."

The United States team blitzed the rest of the field as they took almost four-and-a-half seconds off the world record.

Out in Beijing Ross also swam in the men's 200m freestyle event. In the heats he was the 11th fastest qualifier for the semi-final, with a time of 1:47.13, and in the semi-final finished third with a time of 1:47.35, but missed out on a place in the final.

In the heats of the men's 4x100m freestyle relay he was part of the team which were the eighth fastest qualifiers for the final, with a time of 3:13.69, while in the final they finished eighth, coming in at 3:12:87.

Fellow Derbyshire swimmer Dean Milwain also competed in Beijing, finishing seventh in his Men's 400m freestyle heat and 21st overall with a time of 3:48.77 - just outside the personal best he set in Sheffield to qualify for his first Olympics.

Meanwhile badminton player Donna Kellogg, from Derby, lost out in the mixed doubles tournament.

Along with partner Anthony Clark, she was beaten 21-15, 21-8 by Chinese joint fourth seeds Hanbin He and Yang Yu in the first round.

Donna said: "We knew we would have to play at the top of our game to have a chance. We didn't quite get our best game out."

Donna also joined Gail Emms to compete in the women's doubles, losing 21-19, 21-13 in the first round.

Pictured above is Ross Davenport (centre) with Peter Richardson, Chair of the Derbyshire Management Group for the 2012 Games, and Derbyshire Cricket Club Chairman Don Amott, at a good luck presentation held in Derbyshire before the Olympics began.