Silver for Boyle

New Zealand swim queen Lauren Boyle won a hard-earned silver medal in the womens 800m freestyle final today.

Boyle, 26, swam stroke for stroke with Welsh woman Jazz Carlin for most of the journey and still led after 600m. However, Carlin put in a sizzling final 200m and Boyle could not hold on.

Carlin was timed at 8min 18.11s, a Games record. Boyle eventually finished second in 8min 20.59s. Her time at the halfway point was 4min 09.55s. Canadian Brittany MacLean was third in 8min 20.91s.

After her excellent 200m freestyle warm-up on the opening day, Boyle might have expected a faster time in Glasgow. When she claimed the bronze medal in last years world champs in Barcelona, she swam 8min 18.58s.

I'm really happy. It's bitter-sweet and hard to describe, but I'm really happy with how I did, Boyle said immediately after the race.

At the end of an 800 you're always feeling tired and I wanted to try and have something left, but I just didn't have enough there.

Boyles is the New Zealand teams second medal in Glasgow, after Sophie Pascoes gold medal yesterday.

Boyle swims the 400m freestyle tomorrow.