Ben Proud revealed his focus is trained on being crowned the fastest man in the world after qualifying joint-fastest for the men’s 50m freestyle.
Proud clocked 21.38 seconds to top the semi-final standings alongside Australia’s Cameron McEvoy.
Plymouth’s Proud will go for gold in one of the centre lanes on Friday night but is not getting carried away with his performance so far.
“Sometimes it feels super far away and then it’s just around the corner. Suddenly this morning we’re in it, then semi-final comes and now it’s the final,” he said.
“Now it’s a super fixated 24 hours on a race. It’s going to be another beautiful journey in that sense.
“Today was the working day, it was about doing what it takes to get into the final, getting things in the right place to fix them for tomorrow. Now that’s done, it’s time for the experience.
“You look at the lanes and there are Olympic champions in lane eight, lane two, it’s full of fantastic swimmers.
“Nothing changes for me because I’m in the centre lanes. It’s just about doing it again and not thinking lane four is a guaranteed win.”
Proud will not be the only Team GB swimmer in final action on Friday evening, as Honey Osrin and Katie Shanahan both qualified for the women’s 200m backstroke final.
Osrin, 21, qualified third-fastest with a personal best time of 2:07.84 while Shanahan, 20, clocked 2:08.52.
“I’m super chuffed,” said Osrin, who also hails from Plymouth. “A second off my PB, I just feel like the training I’ve been doing is finally reflected in the final in the pool.
“I wasn’t expecting to finish that high up. Obviously things can move around and change but I’ll take that confidence with me and see what I can do.
"The field in the 200 back in GB has really improved and that’s showing with two Brits in an Olympic final. It’s great.”
There will also be two Brits in the men’s individual 200m medley final, with 4x200m freestyle relay Olympic champions Tom Dean and Duncan Scott both booking their places.
Scott qualified third-fastest while Dean was sixth, with both eyeing the podium on Friday.
“We all swim because we back ourselves no matter how we’re doing, that’s really exciting,” said Scott.
“I need to stick to my own race plan tomorrow night, there’s so many great people in there tomorrow.
“The quality in that field is pretty exceptional, which is something to be proud of and I’m excited to be amongst it tomorrow night.”
Thursday’s final action saw Laura Stephens finish eighth in the women’s 200m butterfly, with the 25-year-old pleased to have made her first Olympic final.
“In terms of crowd and atmosphere it was everything you would have dreamed of,” she said.
“My own performance was not everything I would have dreamed for unfortunately. I was hoping to step up from what I did last night in the semi-final but I didn’t have that gear tonight.
“I tried my best and put it all out there but the result didn’t come to me.”
The women’s 4x200m freestyle relay squad of Lucy Hope, Abbie Wood, Freya Anderson, and Freya Colbert finished fifth in a fast final that saw Australia set a new Olympic record.
“I think we were hoping for a little bit better but that field is just extraordinary,” said Hope.
“Being in front of that crowd, alongside these girls, it’s just such fun and good to get out there and race among the best in the world.
“The cheers were so loud I was shaking. This atmosphere is second to none especially when there’s French swimmers out there. It’s the fastest it’s ever been at the Olympics so it’s just nice to be out there against the best in the world.”
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