DEARING VOWS TO COME BACK STRONGER FOR PARIS

ALICE DEARING described herself as “broken” by a frustrating performance after becoming the first black female swimmer to represent Britain at the Olympics.

She finished the 10-kilometre open water course in 19th place, in a time of 2hr 5min 03.2sec, some five-and-a-half minutes behind gold medallist Marcela Cunha.

“I’m pretty broken,” she said. “It was really hard, a really tough race. I had a lot more to give than that, I’m better than that, so I’ll check over what went wrong and look forward to the next one.

“It’s bitter-sweet — it’s incredible to race at the Olympics but I’m disappointed with the result.”

The 24-year-old (above) has already set her sights on the next Games in Paris in three years’ time.

She said: “I want to go to Paris and have a better race, perform better than this. I’ve got a lot more to give and learn, this is my first Olympics. I’m definitely not done.

I’ll go home, take my time to get over it and then come back stronger.”