Emily Seebohm was the shining light but her agonizing near-miss left Australia in the wake of its fellow powerhouse swimming nations early at the London Olympics.

A night following the shock of Australia’s men’s 4x100m freestyle relay crew missing a medal fully, an additional favourite was beaten as Seebohm claimed a silver behind American teenager Missy Franklin in the 100m backstroke final on Monday.

Seebohm, 20, had emerged as a surprise gold medal contender with her brilliant form in the preliminaries, but she was left shattered after staying mowed down in the final 10m of the race.

While the functionality was a fine achievement offered the illness woes she suffered final yr, the upset outcome match the tone on a relatively flat night for Australia.

Swimmer Nick D’Arcy’s campaign ended as he failed to reach the 200m butterfly last while Stephanie Rice failed to demonstrate any real indicators in the 200m personal medley semi-finals she could prevent Chinese sensation Ye Shiwen claiming her 200m IM crown.

Australian veteran Leisel Jones defied her doubters by finishing fifth behind 15-year-old Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte in the 100m breaststroke, but she could not add the medal necessary to match Ian Thorpe’s Australian record of nine Olympic medals.

She will very likely get an additional chance in the 4x100m medley relay.

Following 3 days Australia sit fourth on the swimming medal tally, with one gold, offered by the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay group on the opening night, two silver and a bronze.

The US currently have 4 gold medals in the bag while France and China have three and two respectively.

And while it really is early days, much will rely on James Magnussen’s ability to bounce back from the relay defeat to keep Australia in touch.

The Chinese appear to have many clear medal prospects in Ye and distance star Sun Yang, although Frenchman Yannick Agnel emerged as a prospective star of the meet and real risk to Magnussen in the 100m with a powerful 200m freestyle victory on Monday.

Seebohm was gutted following the her final, and puzzled as to why her times enhanced after she clocked an Olympic record in the heats.

But she later on reflected more positively.

“Silver is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and I am undoubtedly genuinely proud of what I have accomplished and what I had to come via,” she mentioned.

“This is just planning for the next 4 many years now, it all starts once again and I will absolutely keep going and preserve making an attempt to strive for that gold that I want.”

D’Arcy, ranked 3rd in the planet coming into the Olympics, swam nearly two seconds outdoors his private very best in his 200m butterfly semi-last to finish a lowly 13th.

Alicia Coutts confirmed her credentials as a medal contender in the 200IM semis clocking the second quickest time as Rice was fifth fastest, whilst Bronte Barratt was a surprise top rated qualifier for Tuesday’s women’s 200m freestyle last.