JAZZ Carlin insists she can still prove herself to be double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington’s rightful heir despite a desperate World Championship campaign ending in the 800m freestyle heats.

Barcelona promised so much for the 22-year-old after she booked her ticket in spectacular fashion at the British trials where she set the fastest time in the world this year over 800m and broke the 1500m British record.

That led to comparisons with distance specialist Adlington, who retired following London 2012, and Carlin looked like she would live up to the billing when she missed out on bronze in her least favoured 400m by just 0.16 seconds on Sunday.

Yet that was to be as good as it got for the Swansea-based swimmer who bombed out of the 1500m heats and then repeated the trick in 800m yesterday.

Carlin touched home in 8.27.48 minutes and missed the final by just 0.07secs but in truth she looked a shadow of the swimmer who had clocked 8.18.58mins to top the world rankings in June.

All eyes are instead focussed on American sensation Katie Ledecky who will look to claim Adlington’s 8.14.10 world record at the Palau Sant Jordi tonight [Saturday].

However Carlin, who missed last year’s Olympic Games after illness ruined her qualification bid, is refusing to throw in the towel, believing she can still challenge Ledecky on the road to Rio 2016.

“It was tough, I was really happy but also disappointed with the 400m and I wanted to go in and do a good swim again but it wasn’t the swim I wanted it to be,” she said.

“I still have plenty of determination and motivation for the next three years. I am happy to be here, I wanted to be on the podium but there is so much that I have got to work on.

“I had three months out of the water last year and obviously this year I didn’t expect to do the times I did three weeks ago.

“It is about looking forward now and it is on to the Commonwealth Games and World Championships and hopefully Rio.

“She [Ledecky] swam incredible swims and she’s still so young so I’m sure she’s got plenty more to come but I’m going to push myself even harder, I want to be faster, I don’t just want to be stuck on those times that everyone thinks are ok, I want to be fighting to be the best in the world.” While Carlin has remained injury and illness free this summer she has had to adapt to a change in calendar with the trials moved from early spring to June and admits there will be lessons to learn for next year.

“The past few days I have been a bit up and down. I had my confidence knocked by the 1500m because I wanted to be in that final,” she added.

“It is not the end of the line for me, I still have more to come.

“With the late trials being at the end of June it has been a bit difficult for a distance swimmer as I have never done it before, to get in that block of training because when you come down you tend to lose that block of fitness. It is something I will have to speak to with my coach.”

Meanwhile, Swindon’s Tilly Gray finished her stint in America with a third place finish in the final of the 100m butterfly at the US Open.

The Loughborough student made it through to the final fifth fastest with a time of 59.78, and took half a second off her mark in the last race as she made it home in 59.28 for third place in California.

The result ended a successful week for Gray, as the youngster booked her place in the Commonwealth Games in the 200m event on Wednesday morning by achieving the 2:10.00 qualifying time which was good enough for the gold medal.