Roy-Allan Burch, the Bermuda swimmer, insisted that he had no reason to be downhearted after missing out on the 50 metres freestyle final at the Commonwealth Games.

Burch emphasised that the high level of competition had been “no duck walk”, but admitted that he would have to closely analyse his swims in an effort to close the gap on the world’s elite.

In a semi-final in which Benjamin Proud, of England, smashed the Games record in a time of 21.76sec, Burch finished fifth in 22.71, placing eleventh overall.

“I can’t say I’m disappointed,” Burch said. “These are quality guys that I was up against and this is no duck walk, I can assure you.

“I didn’t go that fast and will have to look at it and see what I could have done better.

“The level has never been this good [at the Commonwealth Games]. I would have made the final at 2010 Games in New Delhi; no problem with that time.”

The 28-year-old admitted that he had been working on training his brain to remain positive, having sometimes found it difficult to handle setbacks in the pool, but said that he was at complete peace with his performances in Glasgow.

“It’s been great to have been a part of this competition and the atmosphere was amazing,” said Burch, who set a personal best in the 100 freestyle semi-finals in 50.26 on Saturday.

“I’ve been doing a bit of self-discovery stuff and looking not to get so bogged down and trying to find the good in everything. That’s been important for me.

“I’ve only really had this year of good professional training and there’s a lot of stuff I need to work on, especially the little things.”

Burch will now turn his attention to his next international competition, the Central American and Caribbean Games, held in Veracruz, Mexico, from November 14 to 30.

“The CAC Games will be an event where I can do well and get some more confidence racing,” the two-times Olympian said. “There will be some good guys there, but certainly not this kind of field. I think that will be good for me.”