Jack Harvey narrowly missed out on securing Bermuda’s first medal at the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay last night.

Competing in lane six, the Olympic swimmer finished fourth in the 200 metres backstroke final, touching the wall in 2min 2.27sec.

“It was a tough swim for sure. It was a really competitive field going up against guys from Brazil, Chile and Mexico, really big competitive countries,” Harvey told The Royal Gazette.

“These guys are the top guys in the region, so I was just happy to swim and compete with them.

“Fourth is always a little bit of a frustrating place to come. But still happy to be there at the top of the meet.

“I don’t think it was my greatest race, but I’ll take it.”

Harvey had plenty reason to be optimistic heading into the final, having qualified with the fourth-fastest time of 2:03.85, 1.11sec behind Humberta Najera, of Mexico, who posted the fastest time in the heats.

The Mexican lived up to expectations heading into the final by claiming the gold medal in a Games record time of 1:57.44.

Brazilian Samuel Lopes took the silver in 2:00.65, with Edhy Bargas, of Chile, third in 2:00.85.

Harvey, who went into the meet seeded third in the 100 and 200 backstroke, will continue his quest for a medal when he returns to the pool today to compete in the 100 backstroke heats.

The 22-year-old feels his chances of achieving the feat are greater heading into his specialty event.

“Coming into the meet that was definitely going to be the better shot I have at a medal, so I am just trying to focus on that now and do everything I can to have a good swim tomorrow,“ he said.

“I will have prelims in the morning and if all goes to plan hopefully the finals tomorrow night.

“Just got to focus on the 100 and hopefully I can maybe step on to the podium.”

Harvey feels having adjusted to his surroundings and gauged the level of competition will work to his advantage when he gets back into the pool.

“The more you race the more you experience it. It definitely plays a part in it, so I am kind of happy it works out that way,” he said.

“I do the 200 first to get a feel for the pool, the atmosphere and everything like that, and then I can really dial in tomorrow and have a really good 100.”

Harvey, who represented Bermuda along with sibling Emma at the Olympics in Paris last year, was not the only local swimmer in the pool yesterday, as Elijah Daley was back in action while Marleigh Howes made her first appearance.

After competing in the 200 metres butterfly final less than 12 hours earlier, Daley finished seventh in heat four of the 100 butterfly. His time of 56.65 was 3.64 seconds behind heat winner Ulises Cazau, of Argentina. Daley finished twentieth overall.

Howes, one of the youngest girls at the meet, finished eighth in heat three of the 200 metres freestyle in 2:13.51 behind heat winner Maria Yegeres, of Colombia. Howes finished 24th overall.