JUST nine hundredths of a second separated Balloch’s Ross Murdoch from a potential Olympic spot in the 200m breaststroke – and he admitted it was bittersweet as Stirling teammate Craig Benson pushed his claims for a place instead.

While Andrew Willis stormed to victory at the 2016 British Swimming Championships in Glasgow, Murdoch and Benson played out an incredible race for second, with Benson touching home in 2:09.07, a fraction ahead of his teammate.

That means the Commonwealth champion is unlikely to race in his preferred distance in Rio, although he is almost certain to have booked his spot in the 100m breaststroke alongside world record holder Adam Peaty.

However, if Benson does not make the final cut of 30 in the 200m and Murdoch makes it for the 100m, discretion could still see him in the race, but that would appear highly unlikely.

Murdoch struggled to pinpoint the reason he had been off his best on the night.

He said: “I’m devastated. I feel in the shape of my life, I put in a decent performance in the 100m earlier in the week and I felt like it was going to be the night where I shook off all my woes from last season and brought it back.

“That’s the nature of sport. It’s bittersweet, I’ve seen my teammate Craig come second and he’s put himself in a great position to get on the Olympic team.

“I’m delighted for him, but I’m a little disappointed with my own performance.

“I look back at everything but I had two of the best camps of my life. I was away in Doha, I spent two weeks at altitude and then I spent four weeks in Australia where I had the best bout of training I’ve ever done, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen for you. That’s just the way it is.

“I’ve got about 16 or 17 weeks until Rio and hopefully that 100 will be good enough for selection. I’ve got my family here supporting me and this is about them. It’s about the journey and enjoying the journey and moving on and trying to do the best I can in Rio.”

While Murdoch should yet make the plane to Rio, the same is not true of Michael Jamieson, a silver medallist in this event in London four years ago. He came fifth after a tricky couple of years and admitted he was contemplating retirement. Murdoch paid tribute to the man who inspired him to take up the sport full-time.

He added: “I’ve been saying since I made my debut in 2013, Michael Jamieson is one of my heroes. He’s the one that proved to me that Scottish people can get medals at the Olympic Games.

“I watched him in London and that’s what made me want to go out and make this my profession.”

Tickets for the European Aquatics Championships – the biggest event to be held at the London Aquatics Centre since the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games – from May 9-22 are now available at: www.euroaquatics2016.london.