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.

Britain's Brownlee brothers serve up triathlon treat

Alistair,left, and Jonny show off their medals in Hyde Park

I took to Hyde Park yesterday for one of the Olympics' most exciting sports - the men's triathlon. It turned out to be a fantastic day for Team GB as not only did Alistair Brownlee take the gold in style, his younger brother Jonny overcame a 15 second penalty to claim a bronze medal for his efforts. The crowds had turned out in huge numbers, reportedly over 300,000, to surround the Serpentine where the first swimming leg of the event took place, as some of the cycling leg and much of the running. While the massive crowds meant it was difficult to see much of the action that well, an electric atmosphere, influenced by the fact Great Britain fans knew they were in with a great chance of at least one medal, made it a more than worthwhile visit. In fact, despite having vast stretches of unticketed areas alongside the triathlon course, it was still the most over-subscribed event with approximately 500,000 people applying for the 5,000 paid seats which were available in a grandstand north of the Serpentine.

5,000 people had seats in the grandstand but plenty more turned up anyway

Triahlon, is in fact a relatively new addition to the Olympic programme, having been included for the first time at Sydney 2000. The sport itself was only properly invented in the 1970s in the USA, although there were some similar three sport events held in France during the early part of the 20th century. Triathlons can vary in distances and rules but Olympic triathlons consist of a 1.5km swim followed by a 43km bike ride before a 10km run. Alistair completed the event in 1 hour 46 minutes 25 seconds, including a running time of 29 minutes 7 seconds, only 97 seconds slower than Mo Farah ran when he claimed gold in the 10,000m event on Saturday night. Brownlee's incredible running time has even led to calls for him to try out his luck on the track, as he would certainly be able to perform competitively without swimming or cycling beforehand. The elder Brownlee brother has in fact gone on record to say he would consider taking to the track for the 2014 Commonwealth games, and that would certainly be some story.

Alistair crosses the finish line holding a Union flag which was thrown from the crowd

The Brownlees are true role models amongst the athletes at London 2012. Alistair,24, only recently came back from a serious achilles injury which ruled him out for five months earlier this year, although he proved his fitness by taking first place in the World Cup event in Kitzbuehel, Austria back in June. Meanwhile Jonathan, the 22-year-old, managed to achieve a 2.1 in his History degree from Leeds University, and in the last year wrote his 10,000 word dissertation on Richard III, who hails from Yorkshire, the brothers' home county. The Brownlees enjoy Yorkshire so much, in fact, that they chose to stay there until the weekend immediately before their race. The duo spent the first week of the Olympic Games training and enjoying their mother's home-cooking in their home village on the outskirts of Leeds. However, now the hard work is over Jonny has made it clear they plan to make the most of life in the Olympic village.

The men line up ahead of the swimming leg of the triathlon

Jonny, is targeting overhauling his brother in time for Rio 2016, where at 26 he will be in his prime. The 15 second penalty which was inflicted upon him was the first of his triathlon career and was given due to his mounting of the bicycle slightly too early in the transition period between swimming and cycling. The younger Brownlee chose to take the penalty just before the final lap of the running section of the event, despite his coaches advising him to take it earlier, but he appreciated the recovery time it allowed him. Javier Gomez, the Spanish former world champion finished 20 seconds ahead of Jonny and while the Brit feels he probably wouldn't have been able to catch the Spaniard anyway, it is a shame that we will never know if there could have been a British sibling top two at London 2012. Nevertheless, two brothers on the same podium is an achievement to be proud of. With both athletes still the right side of 25, there is plenty of potential for them to achieve much more in their careers. In an Olympic tournament where Great Britain is performing better than ever seen in recent decades, the Brownlee brothers success in Hyde Park genuinely stands out as one to remember.

James will return to Hyde Park tomorrow to watch Keri-Anne Payne attempt to claim gold in the 10km marathon swim event so make sure to return for more Olympic articles. And in the mean time follow James on Twitter @TSFE2012