Keri-Anne tastes the Payne as Brits fail to rule the pool

The Serpentine Bridge decked out especially for the Olympics

It was a crushing afternoon for Great Britain's marathon swimmer Keri-Anne Payne when she came agonisingly close to taking a medal at Hyde Park today, only to miss out on bronze by 0.4 seconds. Payne was in fact only four seconds behind gold medal winner Eva Risztov of Hungary, which over a 10km swim lasting approximately two hours is the tightest of margins. I was stood on the banks of the Serpentine this afternoon in the baking sun where one of the Olympics' harshest events ensured a good turnout from the Brits. But the race left a subdued crowd at the end of the two hours as Team GB's representative, who had been favourite to take the gold, was denied in the cruellest fashion. The 24-year-old had claimed the silver medal in Beijing back in 2008 and since then had won the world championships twice, in 2009 and 2011, and with the home advantage of London 2012 she will look back on this with much disappointment. As she put it herself, 'Fourth in the world is not too bad but not what I really wanted.'

Payne was devastated to miss out  on the podium

Yet while Payne will be disappointed, it has to be taken into account that her event is one of the most horrendous to compete in. China's Fang Yanqiao pulled out before the race started with an unspecified injury and the Serpentine then claimed two victims during the event itself. South Africa's Jessica Roux couldn't continue after three laps and was hauled out of the water and taken away in a wheelchair, while Brazilian Poliana Okimoto fainted from dehydration after being pulled out of the lake during the fifth lap. This meant only 22 out of the initial 25 entrants finished the race with 22nd placed Greek Marianna Lymperta crossing the line nearly seven minutes behind the victorious Risztov. It must be said that the incredible levels of durability, stamina and energy required to succeed in this event is clear for all to see and just completing the race is more than an achievement.

Some Olympic jobs look more fun than others

The marathon swim was only introduced to the Olympics for the first time in 2008 and is the equivalent of swimming 400 lengths of a 25m pool. The Hyde Park course was a relatively serene one as it had been oxygenated to keep the course clear of algae and the only wildlife consisted of ducks and geese, as opposed to jellyfish or dead dogs, which Payne has encountered in previous marathon swims in Australia and China respectively. Yet despite the lack of unsavoury obstacles it still took a lot of ability and experience to win the race, with the action in the pack during the first stages of the race being particularly physical. Risztov has bags of experience having competed in the pool back in the early 2000s, including at the 2004 Olympics before retiring in 2005. She announced her return in 2009, deciding to primarily compete in the open water swimming discipline although she did make some appearances in the aquatics centre last week.

The top five swimmers on the final lap (Payne - blue cap,centre)

But while Risztov can look back on her tournament with much satisfaction this caps a disappointing showing for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the swimming events which have taken place at London 2012. There is one final event tomorrow, the men's 10km marathon swim, but Team GB's only entrant Daniel Fogg is a real outsider and is unlikely to achieve a medal. The home nation appear set to finish the tournament with only three swimming medals, one silver from Michael Jamieson and the two bronzes achieved by Rebecca Adlington, who of course had won double gold four years ago. This looks particularly bad when compared to the USA's haul of 31 medals- 16 of which were gold, so it is certainly something for the British swimming authorities to work on ahead of Rio in 2016. With so many medals on offer for swimming, if Great Britain can start winning more often in the pool then the impossible gap between USA and China and the rest of the world may no longer seem so impossible.

James will return tomorrow morning with the third and final edition of The Friday Feeling. If you haven't already, make sure to follow him on Twitter @TSFE2012 and if you haven't read some of his earlier blogs then feel free to check them out using the menu on the right hand side of the page!

First, third and final photographs by James Phillips.