James Wilby qualifies for Olympic breaststroke semi-final

The 30-year-old finished fourth in the heat and sixth overall in a time of 59.4 seconds.

"That race was a really nice little set-up, but a little sloppy in some places. I'm really happy to have come out with a time like that,” he told the BBC.

"Hopefully I'll be in a reasonable place in the semi-finals. Hopefully.

"It's results-dependent, but it's looking okay at the moment.

"Across the board it wasn't that fast."

• Wilby thankful to have family by his side as Paris Olympics likely to be his last

Fellow Brit Adam Peaty breezed into the semi-finals of the men’s 100 metres breaststroke later today (Saturday, July 27) as he got his bid for a historic third consecutive Olympic title under way.

The Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 champion, seeking to become just the second male swimmer after Michael Phelps to win Olympic gold at three successive Games, finished first in the fourth of five heats.

His time of 59.18 seconds was the second quickest time, only behind Dutch swimmer Caspar Corbeau.