Rio 2016: Team GB suffer more medal frustration as Andrew Willis becomes latest athlete to finish fourth

Willis was unable to win a medal in the 200m breatstroke final after missing out by just eight hundredths of a second

Andrew Willis was left frustrated with a fourth place finish in the men's 200m breaststroke final (Getty)

Great Britain's Andrew Willis said ruefully that four must be his lucky number after another agonising near miss.

The 25-year-old added to Britain's growing tally of fourth-placed finishes by only eight hundredths of a second in the final of the 200 metres breaststroke.

The extra agony is this is not Willis' first such experience. He has now finished fourth at the Olympics, twice at the World Championships and once at the European Championships.

He said: "Really fourth and eighth is the same thing. The positive is it's a higher finish than London (where he was eighth). I progressed through the rounds.

"I feel like when I do finish swimming, four will be my lucky number. But I gave it everything and I wouldn't change anything."

Willis went into the final as the second-fastest qualifier behind Japan's Ippei Watanabe and was gaining with every stroke coming down the final length.

But he was touched out, with Dmitriy Balandin winning Kazakhstan's first swimming gold from lane eight ahead of Josh Prenot of the United States and Russia's Anton Chupkov.

Willis' time of two minutes 07.78 seconds in fourth was just 0.05 seconds behind the personal best he set in the semi-finals on Tuesday, which had raised hopes of a fifth British swimming medal.

The Bath-based swimmer qualified for the team ahead of European and Commonwealth champion Ross Murdoch, who was the major casualty of the trials.

There were mixed emotions for Willis, who said: "It's a strange one. I don't know how I feel about that right now. I gave it everything, stuck to my plan. I paced myself and was coming back strong.

"I knew (Yasuhiro) Koseki would go out quick and I was up with Watanabe. I thought he might not go as quick but the outside lanes were obviously where some of the action was happening. I just stuck my head down and went for it.

"I touched and I knew I was up there. When you touch and you look around it seems to take forever. I'm just a bit gutted.

"I was definitely happy with the time and I knew it was there or thereabouts. (The gap) is nothing and that's what makes it so much harder."

Teenager Duncan Scott won silver as part of the men's relay team on Tuesday and he produced another very impressive swim in the final of the 100m freestyle.

The 19-year-old equalled the British record of 48.01 he set in the heats to finish fifth, with 18-year-old Australian Kyle Chalmers winning a very close race.

Britain will have two finalists in the women's 200m breaststroke after Molly Renshaw and Chloe Tutton both came through their semi-finals.

Willis trails eventual silver medallist Josh Prenot (Getty)

Renshaw was the third fastest qualifier in a new British record of 2:22.33, claiming the mark back from Tutton by just 0.01.

"It was amazing," said 20-year-old Renshaw. "I've been wanted to go 2:22 for quite a while now and it's nice to be finally making the big drops here.

"I think I came in (to the semi-finals) 12th or something so to be up there is amazing. I'm sure people will step it up tomorrow night and hopefully I can.

"This has been an event that has been quite stuck within Britain so now to have two of us in an Olympic final is unbelievable."

There will be no rematch between Lilly King and Yulia Efimova, though, after the American could only finish 12th.

King was outspoken in her criticism of Russian Efimova, who has previously served a doping ban, after beating her to gold in the 100m.

Michael Phelps looks likely to take another gold after qualifying fastest in the 200m individual medley ahead of US team-mate Ryan Lochte.

Dan Wallace, another of Britain's relay medallists, also made the final with the fifth fastest time.

Katie Ledecky equalled Phelps and Hungary's Katinka Hosszu with her third gold in Rio, anchoring the USA's 4x200m freestyle relay team to victory ahead of Australia.

Mireia Belmonte Garcia became the first ever Spanish female gold medallist in the pool by claiming victory in the 200m butterfly.

Australia's Campbell sisters both qualified for the final of the 100m freestyle, with Cate quickest in an Olympic record time of 52.71.

Sixteen-year-old Canadian Penny Oleksiak was just 0.01 behind with 100m butterfly champion Sarah Sjostrom fourth and Bronte Campbell fifth.

PA