British open water swimmer Daniel Fogg could not explain his performance at the World Championships in Barcelona.
Fogg finished fifth at last year's Olympics but struggled in the 10km race, won by Greece's Spyridon Gianniotis, coming home a distant 38th.
He will now reset his sights on the pool, where he will compete over the 800m and 1500m freestyle, but admitted his disappointment.
“I’ve felt really good the last few days in training,” he said.
“I had a great start and was exactly where I wanted to be going up the first front straight.
"The field was so strong and bunched up a lot but I got myself back up into a good position with a lap to go.
“I started to kick and the pace really picked up and I couldn’t really go with it with 2km out so I couldn’t be where I wanted to be down the back straight.
“I had nothing in the arms, nothing in the legs, nothing at all to give me that sprint at the end.”
British team-mate Jack Burnell finished 15th in his World Championships debut - exceeding the expectations of British team officials who had given him a top 25 target.
"That was unbelievable," said Burnell, after coming home 20 seconds behind Gianniotis.
"This was my first major champs and fourth open water overall. I didn't know what to expect because I've never been in a field the quality or size of this one.
"I just threw everything at it, I was leading and round third for probably two to three laps. I think I probably didn’t have the experience or knowledge to put myself in the correct position for the last lap which I'll learn from and take that forward.
"I had no expectations, I just thought I'll see what I can do and just enjoy. And I did, I really enjoyed it."
© Sportsbeat 2013