Charlotte Atkinson missed out on the chance of a semi-final appearance at her maiden World Swimming Championships on Wednesday.

The Isle of Man swimmer was back in the Duna Arena pool three days after competing in the heats of the 100m butterfly on the opening day of competition in Budapest.

Going in the longer 200m event, the 20-year-old began well and found herself in the race at the halfway stage, turning second in her heat.

But she tired over the closing stages as her rivals came past her, eventually finishing seventh with her time of 2min 10.68sec, leaving her 21st fastest overall.

That was almost a second-and-a-half behind the slowest qualifier for the evening’s semi-finals, which included fellow Brit Alys Thomas.

To compound the frustration for Atkinson, her personal best time of 2m 07.06s set at the British trials back in April would have seen her qualify fastest for the semi-finals.

While disappointed not to produce her best on the global stage, Atkinson was still keen to point out the positives from her week in the Hungarian capital.

’It has been an amazing week, this is my first major international senior competition.

’It’s been a fantastic experience whatever happens the rest of the week,’ said Atkinson, who may still appear in the medley relay on Sunday.

’I think it’s great that the whole team bounces off each other’s success, we’re quite a close team so it’s nice.

’I’m glad the 100m was first, just to get in the pool and get that one out of the way. I was more excited for the 200m.

’It felt alright, I didn’t feel like I was going out too fast but maybe I did.

’That’s how I’ve always swam it, sometimes I pull it off and sometimes I don’t. It’s one of those things, it’s disappointing to miss out but you look forward again.’

l You can help the next generation of young British swimmers by getting involved in SportsAid Week this September with five-time Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds OBE.

Find out more about how you can support the week of fun and fundraising by visiting www.sportsaid.org.uk/sportsaidweekPIPPA FIELD