Jacob Peters disappointed with sixth place in 100m butterfly final

Jacob Peters was disappointed to not show everything he has in the locker when finishing sixth in the men’s 100m butterfly at the Commonwealth Games.

Peters clocked 52.06 in Birmingham, just one tenth of a second behind Australia’s Cody Simpson, the singer who has been the talk of this Games down under amid an alleged love triangle storm with his current partner Emma McKeon and her ex and his teammate Kyle Chalmers.

Poole’s Peters, who finished 0.92 seconds behind Canada’s winner Joshua Liendo Edwards with compatriot James Guy taking joint silver, was unsatisfied with the result in a strong field, as he finished one place below what he managed in the 50m on Saturday.

The 21-year-old explained: “I’m a bit disappointed, I know I have more in me than that.

“I started off the week strongly with the 50 but I must move on, I’m potentially in the relay tomorrow so I can’t let it affect me too much.

“It’s a very strong field, the top three were 51.4 and under so I can’t fault them. It’s not the result for me but hopefully it will be in the future.”

Peters, who is one of over 1,100 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering technology, science and medical support, praised his compatriot Guy and said he deserved his medal given all the graft he puts into the sport and credited him for setting an example to aspire to.

He said: “James is a great role model for me, he always has been. He deserves it, he puts the work in every day and he’s getting the results. All credit to him.”

Despite not quite ending up where he wanted to be, Peters still loved swimming in front of the stunning Sandwell Aquatics Centre crowd.

He added: “The home crowd is amazing; my family are here tonight. I can’t fault them.”

Peters’ Olympic experience at Tokyo 2020, where he just missed out on the 100m semi-finals, is depicted across his chest in the form of a tattoo of the rings while the lion etched alongside is especially pertinent this week with it being the same logo he wears while representing Team England.

And although Peters never contemplated battling a popstar in the water, he vowed to get one over Simpson the next time the pair do battle in the pool.

He joked: “It had never come into my head [swimming against a singer]. I would have liked to have beaten him but next time I’ll touch in front of him.”

While Dorchester’s Jay Lelliott had a disappointing evening in the pool as he finished flat last in the men’s 200m backstroke final.

Lelliott was way off the pace, clocking 2:01.64 and finishing over five seconds behind teammate and new Commonwealth champion Brodie Williams.

The other Englishman in the race was perennial podium finisher Luke Greenbank but he also missed out, taking fifth despite having led when turning for home after fading fast in the last 50.

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