Great meet - shame about the Brits

Inge de Bruijn: One of Sharron's stars of the Games

It has been a tremendous swimming competition according to Olympic silver medallist Sharron Davies, with records tumbling, but she is depressed by the British performances.

I have never, ever been in a swimming pool with an atmosphere like the one we have experienced in Sydney. It has been truly incredible.

On the final day, during the warm-ups for the 1500m, the noise of 18,000 people shouting 'Perkins, Perkins' in support of Kieren Perkins was amazing.

All the way through the crowds have been fantastic, and there has been so much for them to cheer about because the standard of swimming has been so high.

Unfortunately that's not something that can be said about our swimming team who failed to win any medals and, obviously, that's very sad.

Not good enough

I think it says it all that we broke a number of British records in the relays yet there was only one in the individual events and at this level of competition, with all the money we have spent and all the ability we have, it is simply not good enough.

The exact reason for our performance I do not know, but I do know 100 per cent that the team did not do this badly deliberately. All the swimmers worked very hard.

It has been depressing to be at the side of the pool to watch our team and have to speak to them afterwards, to try to lift their spirits and constantly ask what went wrong, why it did not work for them. I really felt for them.

Finding the answer to our problems is difficult. The lottery money we have been given will make a difference but it will take time - Australia have taken 16 years to get to the level they are now.

Obviously facilities are a problem. There are something like 1500 50m pools in Australia while there are only about eight back in the UK - and that needs to be addressed.

Even so, I believe we should have won two or three medals and more swimmers should have broken British records.

There must be some sort of investigation into what went wrong and I'm afraid I can't be involved in that because I wasn't involved in the preparation.

On a happier note, I have three abiding memories from the swimming meet.

First is Inge de Bruijn, who was quite sensational. There has been some innuendo about her performance from some quarters, and when I spoke to her about it she just burst into tears. It's been a very emotional week.

Phenomenal

But we all wondered whether she could reproduce the form that got her seven world records this year and she did, winning three gold medals.

Second is Ian Thorpe, who is a phenomenal talent and someone who will be around for the next eight years at least.

Finally, there was Pieter van den Hoogenband, the giantslayer. He beat Popov and Thorpe when nobody expected him to and swam out of his skin, which is what the Olympics are all about.

On a final note, I must say that the US, after all the Australians talk, whipped their butts. They won 14 gold medals to Australia's five and I think they are still dominant in the pool.