It's Games No 5 for old Foster as Tancock sets world best

At 38 in Beijing, Foster will be the oldest British swimmer ever, the oldest male swimmer at these Games and the first British man to swim at more than four Olympics. His first, in Seoul, was 20 years ago.

It would have been his sixth Games but, with a damaged shoulder, he missed the qualifying standard for Athens four years ago by 0.01sec and his old nemesis Bill Sweetenham, a performance director with whom he had clashed publicly, declined to be generous.

Now he will swim 50 metres freestyle in a team in which many of the swimmers were not born when he competed first for Britain in 1985.

He will be more than 10 years older than his nearest contemporary. 'Really, really pleased,' was his understated reaction.

Foster does it his own way. He is self-coached since he came out of self-imposed retirement last year after an 18-month break, spends more of his training time in the gym than the pool and because he will have nothing to do with the official swimming structure in Britain receives not a penny in support from the National Lottery.

He even rejected the use in the final of the revolutionary Speedo LZR Racer body suit that has been worn by 17 world record-breakers this year and most of those who have been ripping up the British record book at this week's Olympic trials in Sheffield.

Yet he was alone in finishing inside the qualifying time of 23.35sec in the 50m freestyle.

Foster wore the suit in Tuesday evening's heats, qualified for Olympic selection in 23.29 and decided not to wear it in the final.

'It was a distraction. I was thinking about it instead of what I was doing because I'd worn it only once before. I loved it but I wasn't practised in it,' he said.

Liam Tancock proves a world-beater

What troubled him about a suit developed in association with NASA was that the zip was on the back. Foster is accustomed to it on the front where, as he said, 'I can control it.'

So he came out in an older Speedo bodysuit for the final and then at the last minute stripped that off to race bare-chested in leggings.

'When I got down on my toes, the zip popped open. Luckily I was wearing leggings under it, so I just stripped off,' he explained.

His final time was just 0.01sec slower than when he wore the new suit, so does that prove it unnecessary?

'The suit has to help. Definitely. It would be stupid not to say that,' he said.

Foster, as a short-course specialist who has won six world titles, will be among Britons who may win gold at next week's World Short Course Championships in Manchester.

He will practise in the new suit in training for the rest of this week before deciding whether to wear it.

'I am near my best long-course time here and I'm a short-course swimmer. So I'm really excited about the possibilities next week,' he said.

Two more Commonwealth records fell in the morning's finals, making five Commonwealth and nine British records that have gone with four finals sessions to come.

James Goddard, fourth in the 2004 Olympics, became the fourth fastest ever at 200m individual medley in 1min 57.72.

He edged out Tancock, who returned last night to swim a sensational 50m backstroke and break the world record.

The triple world bronze medallist touched in 24.47 to eclipse the mark of 24.80 set by German Thomas Rupprath in July 2003.

It is the first world record by a British swimmer since Adrian Moorhouse in the 100m breaststroke in 1990 and Tancock said: 'I feel chuffed to bits.

I don't know who will feel more chuffed — me, my family or my friends.'

He admitted he had been planning the record bid for some time, adding: 'I just felt I had a good time in me.'

Rebecca Adlington improved the 400m freestyle Commonwealth record she set in the heats to 4:04.50, but was not wearing the new suit, so when FINA, the world body, have their showdown with suit-makers about performance-enhancing claims for the products, the evidence will be seriously conflicting.