Jack Burnell fought hard to keep in medal contention at Glasgow 2018, but couldn't keep up with the pace in a 10k race that ended with a photo finish.
The Loughborough based marathon swimmer finished seventh overall in a field of 35, with training-mate Toby Roobinson in 9th and Caleb Hughes in 31st.
Burnell was in a breakaway pack battling foor the bronze on the final stretch but fell back in a race where World Champion Ferry Weertman touched out Hungarian Kristof Rasovszky.
He said: "It was a sore ending in Rio and a bit of a sore ending here too.
"It was a bit physical out there and in wetsuits, but I'm not making any excuses.
"It hasn't gone the way I've wanted, with two broken ribs in one season so wan't coming into this fully fit."
Robinson added: "It was so hard, the last 5k in particular.
"I think I picked up the pace at the front ut it was just so exhausting by the end.
"It's taken me 10 or 12 races to get inside the top 10, so it's all about experience for me."