It wasn't the performance Roy Allen Burch so desperately wanted, failing to get under 51 seconds for the first time – a goal he had set himself – and failing to break his own national record.

But the 22-year-old freestyler remained philosophical about his fifth-place finish in last night's second of nine 100 metre heats, hinting that the lack of support from his home country was partially to blame.

His finishing time of 52.65 seconds fell just short of the 52.40 mark he set at the Worlds in Melbourne last year.

Clearly disappointed as he headed back to the changing room, the Springfield College, Massachussets student said: "London (the 2012 Games) is the goal. And it still is. But I really wanted to improve on my time.

"It's hard when you only have one long-course race previous to your major race and this should show Bermuda that we need more support and that things have got to change.

"I was talking to a guy from the Great Britain team today and he told me that Eamon Sullivan, the world record holder in the 50 free (and the fastest qualifier last night in 47.80) had done 40 long-course races in a year. So doing one is not the best preparation. That's the only opportunity we have."

Burch went into the race owning a faster time than any of his five rivals. And after a promising start, he made the turn in 24.64, well inside record pace.

But he tired considerably on the way back, falling some distance behind eventual winner, Jan Roodzant of Aruba who swam a personal best of 51.69.

Of the 64 competing in the heats, from which only 16 advanced to the semi-finals, the Bermudian's time ranked 60th.

Asked whether he'd gone out too fast, Burch said: "Maybe, but I figured I should go out in front of the pack because that's where I needed to be.

"That's what I did and I paid for it. I tied up really bad at the end.

"I don't know what to say, it just happens sometimes.

"You can only do your best, and the experience is still good.

"Right now, I'll try to forget about it but I think I'll try to work out where I went wrong and see what I can do for the next time.

"But I'm glad I'm here. I've got two weeks now to see a bit of China and get this swim out of my head."

With one more semester left at college, Burch says he'll continue to train before hopefully joining a team within the US.

Before last night's race he said: "My ambition is definitely to go full-time swimmer. But it's all about the funding. I can't wait for Bermuda to do that, I'll do it myself."