AIMEE WILLMOTT confirmed her status as one of the leading medley swimmers in the world as she finished seventh in the 400m Individual Medley at the recent World Championships, but the Teessider was disappointed not to have been closer to challenging for a medal.

Having performed impressively in her heat in order to make the final in Kazan, Willmott was unable to improve on her qualifying performance as she finished more than eight seconds behind gold medallist Katinka Hosszu.

Fellow Brit Hannah Miley finished fourth, and while Willmott’s performance should have helped cement her place on the team for next year’s Olympics, the former Middlesbrough ASC star was hoping to made more of a push for the podium.

“Slightly disappointed with my swim,” tweeted Willmott. “I would have loved to have gone quicker than the heat, but it just didn’t happen for me. I’m sure in a few days I’ll think seventh in the world ain’t bad.”

Newcastle’s Jessica Thielmann narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the 1,500m freestyle as she posted a time of 16:21.21 to finish in tenth position overall.

**

BIRTLEY’S Pat McCormack will take on Spaniard Johann Orozco Ojeda in the quarter-finals of the European Boxing Championships in Bulgaria this afternoon.

McCormack, who is a former World Junior champion, beat Turkey’s Fatih Keles, who claimed the senior European title in 2011, by unanimous decision in his preliminary round fight on Monday afternoon.

The light welterweight suffered a shock first-round defeat at last summer’s Commonwealth Games, but has subsequently re-established his credentials as one of the leading amateurs in the country ahead of next summer’s Olympics in Rio.

“I beat a strong man from Turkey who has been European champion and boxed at the Olympics,” tweeted McCormack. “Now I’ll be boxing against (a fighter from) Spain for a medal on Wednesday.”