Roy-Allan Burch, the Olympic swimmer, admitted to battling through the pain barrier when he competed at the Orlando Grand Prix in Florida last weekend.

The 28-year-old, who has a right shoulder injury and a troublesome left knee, intends to take a few days off to allow his body to recover.

Burch competed in the 50 and 100 metres freestyle and still managed to post credible times despite his niggles.

“It was a tough weekend for me,” Burch said. “We had a higher training volume and I picked up a few injuries over the last two weeks. I was still able to race okay under the conditions.

“I was really happy with how my training was going despite the aches and pains, but I may need to take a few days off and allow my body to recover.

“I need to continue to look at the big picture and make it to summer healthy and ready to perform. I really wanted to work on my metal preparation before my races and I feel like I made some improvements on what I need to focus on.”

Burch managed to claim fourth in the 50m B final, finishing in 23.30 seconds. He qualified thirteenth in qualifying in 23.39secs.

Cesar Cielo of Mesa Aquatics Club in Arizona won the event in 22.15secs.

Burch was not as impressive in the 100m, finishing 35th in qualifying in 52.71secs, failing to reach the next round. Cielo won the race in 49.28secs.

Burch said he would not miss any competition despite his injuries.

“I’ve already got a ton of relief in my knee from some deep stretching,” he added. “My shoulder is a muscular pain, so it will take a bit longer to strengthen the parts that have been over-used.

“It’s reassuring that it’s a muscular pain and not a joint or tendon injury, which would be more serious.”