JAMES Guy's punishing Olympic schedule finally caught up with him in the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly.

The Radcliffe swimmer admitted he was caught cold after finishing seventh in his race, 14th fastest out of 16 competitors in a time of 52.10secs.

It was half a second slower than the 51.78 he swam in the heats and meant the 20-year-old missed out on a fourth final of the Rio Games.

But after finishing sixth in the 400m freestyle, fourth in the 200m freestyle and winning silver in the 4x200m freestyle, Guy is hopeful of one last shot at a medal when he swims the butterfly leg of the 4x100m medley, the heats of which start at 7.48pm British time this evening.

Guy said: “For me, I think I was a little bit tired in that semi. I’ve had a lot of races up and down this past week. In the call room, we were sat down for so long because things were delayed so my legs got a little bit cold.

“But it was a solid swim and it’s all about that medley relay now for me. I’m really excited for the relay."

The Radcliffe swimmer will be competing alongside 100m breaststroke champion and world record holder Adam Peaty, as well as Chris Walker-Hebborn (backstroke) and Duncan Scott (freestyle).

Assuming they qualify, the team has a genuine chance of claiming a gold medal in what will be the final race of the Olympic swimming gala.

“Obviously [Adam] Peaty’s on fire, Chris [Walker-Hebborn] is swimming well and little Duncan Scott is swimming very, very fast so we’ve got a good chance of a medal there which is quite nice.

“We’ve been doing a few bits of practice for takeovers this week but everyone has been quite busy with their individual events. I haven’t done a great deal of butterfly this year but I’ve done a 51 second and with takeover time as well, it’ll be faster hopefully."

Despite suffering disappointment in the fly semi-finals, Guy was not too downhearted after being given the chance to swim alongside his hero Michael Phelps, who was second in the race in 51.58.

“It was a pretty sick experience swimming next to [Michael] Phelps," he said.

"I could see him beside me. It’s nice to say I’ve raced the greatest of all time and I’m pretty sure I was on a par with him until about 10 metres to go when it hurt a little bit. But that’s why he’s the GOAT [greatest of all time].”