Davies equalled his bronze medal finish of two years ago in the 1500 metres feestyle in what was his first major final since recovering from a foot infection for a large part of last year.

 

The 22-year-old from Cardiff went into the final featuring Australia's Olympic and defending world champion Grant Hackett as well as America's Olympic silver medallist Larsen Jensen but the danger come from other quarters.

 

Gold went to young Mateusz Sawrymowicz of Poland, who lead the race from the first third, in a time of 14min 45.94sec while Russia's Yury Prilukov took the silver in 14:47.29 and Davies the bronze in 14:51.21.

 

"To get a medal is fantastic but I feel I may have missed a chance to become world champion after Hackett and Jensen failed to finish in the medals," said Davies.

 

"It wasn't quite there tonight but I can't be too disappointed as I have another World Championship medal and it's the third fastest swim of my career.

 

"It was a great performance from the young Polish swimmer and he's a worthy champion with that time."

 

Britain's second medal came from Liam Tancock, with a bronze already to his name, in the 50m Backstroke.

 

The Loughborough University swimmer looked strong in a very tight race to take the bronze in 25.23sec.

 

Gold went to Gerhard Zandberg of South Africa in 24.98 and silver to Thomas Rupprath of Germany in 25.20. Swansea's Matt Clay came home fifth in 25.32.

 

"It's another medal for me at a World Championships but its not really the time I was after," said Tancock.

 

"I over revved my arms a little and didn't achieve what I wanted which was a personal best time.

 

"These meets are all about gaining experience for the Olympics and I'm learning all the time.

 

"The week has gone well for me and I'm looking forward to getting back in the water and preparing for a strong challenge in Beijing."

 

Britain's men's 4x100m medley relay finished just outside of the medals in fifth but set a new British record at the final event of the Championships at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

 

The quartet of Tancock, James Gibson, Matt Bowe and Simon Burnett returned in 3:36.18. Gold went to Australia in 3:34.93, silver to Japan in 3:35.16 and Russia took bronze in 3:35.51.

 

"We were all expecting a little bit more tonight," said Gibson.

 

"We put ourselves into it completely but didn't really get the result we wanted.

 

"We thought we were on our way to a medal and it's hard to take but we build now for the future."

 

Loughborough University's Kate Haywood went in the final of the 50m Breaststroke, and improved on her entry position to finish seventh in 31.82.

 

Gold went to Jess Hardy of the United States in 30.63, Leisel Jones of Australia took the silver in 30.70 and Tara Kirk of the US the bronze in 31.05.

 

"I'll get back from here, take a few days out of the water and then look to next year," said Haywood.

 

"I'm pleased with how it's gone here, given my broken preparation, and I'll use it to get ready for Beijing.

 

"I'm top eight in the world in an the Olympic event and my aim is to improve on that.

 

"It was good to race another final tonight and it leaves me with confidence."

 

At a World Championships that saw America take the sport of swimming to new levels and where 14 World records tumbled, national performance director Bill Sweetenham has a clear picture of what the British athlete needs as the clock counts down to the Beijing Olympics.

 

"We always want more than we get at this meet," said Sweetenham.

 

"But what we've seen over the past eight days is that swimming has moved on enormously.

 

"The US has surprised the world with its depth within its team and the quality produced.

 

"In our key events this meet has shown we are still where we want to be but there are areas that we need to look at, evaluate and improve on.

 

"This meet has challenged not only Britain but the entire world.

 

"What we've seen is swimming evolve and we're now entering a new era."