Former Warrington schoolboy sneaks into his second Olympic final in Rio

Guy, appearing at his maiden Games in Rio, faced an anxious wait when he could only finish third fastest in the first of this morning's semi-finals, clocking 1min 46.23secs.

However the former pupil of Our Ladys Catholic Primary School and Cardinal Newman High School was handed a lifeline when Thomas Fraser-Holmes’ time of 1:46.24 saw the Brit sneak in as the slowest qualifier ahead of the Australian, by just one hundredth of a second.

It means Guy will have it all to do if he is to repeat his achievements of 12 months ago when he was crowned world champion in Kazan, Russia.

But the 20-year-old refused to start hitting the panic button just yet.

“I’ve just got to swim my own race in the final. I know if I’m fighting for places I’ll never be giving up,” said Guy, who lived in Stockton Heath until taking up a scholarship at specialist sports college Millfield in Somerset.

“It’s nice to have the world title but it’s all about the final now, that’s all that people are thinking about now.

“Everyone has forgotten about last year and it’s all about this now.

“I think I gave it a bit too much too early in that semi-final. I was struggling a bit towards the back end. But you’ve got to be tough about it and move on.”

If Guy needed any more motivation, he should look no further than teammate Adam Peaty, who lived up to pre-race hype and be crowned Olympic champion in the 100m breaststroke – once again lowering his own world record in the process to 57.13 to win by over a second and a half from the chasing pack.

That medal represented the first Olympic gold medal in swimming by a Brit since Adrian Moorhouse in 1988, and Guy was quick to praise his close friend’s achievement.

“Adam is amazing, to have him here and doing that, it’s something pretty special,” he said.

“He’s a great friend of mine and he’s someone to look up to.

“He’s a great boy and he’s got a great atmosphere about him.”