The 25-year-old, full of confidence after claiming 400m freestyle silver on Monday, enjoyed a race-long battle with Hungary’s reigning European champion Boglarka Kapas before getting the edge by two-tenths of a second in 8:16.17.

Gold went to outstanding American Katie Ledecky in a world-record time of 8:04.79 – she also beat Carlin to the 400m title in similar fashion.

After missing out on London 2012 through illness, Carlin – coached by Dave McNulty and Graeme Antwhistle at the British Swimming National Centre Bath – was thrilled with her achievements in Rio this week.

“If someone had told me four years ago that I would be stood on a podium twice with two silver medals I would have said there is no way,” she said.

“It has taken a lot of time to get here and there have been times when I haven’t believed in myself but my family and all of the support staff around me have believed in me.

“I feel very lucky to have gotten on the podium again. Since I was a young girl it has been a dream to go to an Olympics and to finally be here is a dream come true but to be on the podium twice with two silver medals definitely hasn’t sunk in, it feels a bit surreal.”

University of Bath-based swimmers have now won three silver medals at Rio 2016, with Siobhan-Marie O’Connor also getting on the podium in the 200m individual medley on Tuesday.

And there could be more medals on the final day of the Olympic swimming meet, with backstroke specialist Chris Walker-Hebborn part of a GB men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team that set the fastest time of 3:30.47 in qualifying on Friday.

That final is taking place at 3.04am BST, just after the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay featuring O’Connor – Britain were eighth-fastest qualifiers in Friday’s heats.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

Full of confidence after her superb silver medal in the 400m freestyle, Carlin clocked 8:19.67 in the fastest heat of the day to put herself in a good lane for the final (2.20am BST).

“I didn’t expect it to be 8:19, that’s the fastest heat swim I’ve done by three seconds,” said Carlin, coached by Dave McNulty and Graeme Antwhistle at the British Swimming National Centre Bath.

“There were a lot of girls gunning to be in that final and everyone will be fighting for the medals. It’s about finding that rhythm, setting that pace and I felt comfortable, especially the first 400m I didn’t feel I was working too hard.

“I’ve got that speed from my 400m, which is something that I normally struggle with so it would be great to use that in the final and also try to make sure I have enough in the bank for the last half of the race.

“Naturally you want to improve and go faster and I did the best time ever in my 400m, so hopefully I can get my 800m down to my best time too. I am just looking forward to it.”

Fellow Rio silver-medallist Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and Chris Walker-Hebborn could also return to the pool on Friday in their respective 4x100m medley relay heats. The finals will conclude the Olympic swimming in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Report courtesy of Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

Siobhan Marie OConnor (Photo: Getty Images)

And there could be another medal for the British Swimming National Centre Bath training group in the early hours of Thursday morning after Andrew Willis qualified second-fastest for the men’s 200m breaststroke final.

Team GB’s O’Connor, born and raised in Bath, produced a sensational performance in the women’s 200m individual medley final to take another second off her own British record and touch the wall in 2:06.88.

That was just three-tenths of a second behind Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, who had to set a new Olympic record of 2:06.58 to win her third gold of the Games.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said O’Connor, who is coached by Dave McNulty and Graeme Antwhistle at the Sports Training Village.

“When I looked around and saw the time I was over the moon because I didn’t think I had that in me and I am really pleased to have pushed Katinka as hard as I could.

“It means everything, I have worked so hard for this. I am so grateful to my family in Bath and everyone who has helped me to get here – it’s been tough but so, so worth it.

“I was really confident coming into it because sometimes I can have disruptions but I have had probably the most consistent block of work that I have ever had leading up to this.

“I felt in a really good place. My team have just been amazing at keeping me fit and healthy and in training. It is brilliant and I am over the moon with that result.

“We are just on an absolute roll this week and I am just so proud to be part of the team. Our staff and our coaches and our support team are absolutely incredible, they have done everything for us and we are so well prepared, we have come into this meet with a lot of confidence.”

Twenty-year-old O’Connor has been training in the University of Bath pool since the age of nine, when she joined the former Team Bath Futures development programme.

She progressed to the British Swimming set-up in 2011, the year she made her World Championships debut, and qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games while still a schoolgirl at St Gregory’s Catholic College in Bath.

Six medals at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, including 200m IM gold, confirmed O’Connor’s status as one of British Swimming’s rising stars and she went on to win mixed 4x100m medley gold and 200m IM bronze at the 2015 World Championships

O’Connor’s Olympic silver emulated the achievement of training partner Jazz Carlin in the 400m freestyle on Monday – both are likely to be part of the Team GB women’s 200m freestyle relay team racing on Wednesday.

That final is scheduled for 3.55am BST on Thursday, while the men’s 200m breaststroke final is at 2.03am BST.

It will feature Chemical Engineering graduate Willis, who looked in fantastic form as he won his semi-final in a lifetime best of 2:07.73 to qualify second-fastest overall.

It is a second Olympic 200m breaststroke final for Willis – he was eighth at London 2012 in a race that saw fellow University of Bath graduate Michael Jamieson win silver.

Report courtesy of Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd

Carlin, 25, came home in 04:01.2 to claim silver behind the USA’s Kathleen Ledecky who won gold with a new world record of 3:56.46. Another America, Leah Smith, took bronze in 04:01.9.

Team GB Medal Tally: Gold 1, Silver 1, Bronze 0

Carlin said: “It’s an incredible feeling and it’s definitely not sunk in yet. Four years ago I was sat in the stand cheering Team GB on but now I’m actually part of the team and to come away with a silver medal is absolutely amazing.

“I’m so grateful for everyone’s support back home and anyone who got up to watch in the ridiculous hours of the morning – I’m just over the moon.

“I wanted to come here and give it absolutely everything and have no regrets. Sometimes you swim and think I could have a bit left but I wanted to get myself into the race rather than always having to catch up and then absolutely go for it.

“I could see Katie was a bit in front and having a great swim so I just tried to hang on and am gobsmacked to come away with silver.

“I was in the pool room watching Adam and I had goose bumps on the block. To see someone who’s your teammate achieve a new world record and becomes Olympic Champion right before you swim definitely got me pumped up. It’s been a great night for Team GB in the pool. We’ve got a great team here and hopefully we can keep the momentum up and inspire the rest of the team for the rest of the week.”

Carlin is the second British Swimming National Centre swimmer to win an Olympic silver medal, emulating Michael Jamieson’s achievement in the 200m breaststroke at London 2012. She will have chance to add to her medal collection in the 800m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relays this week.

Training partner Chris Walker-Hebborn narrowly missed out on a place in the men’s 100m backstroke final after finishing sixth in his semi-final in 53.75, putting him 11^th-fastest overall.

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor starts her second Olympic campaign at 6.11pm BST on Monday in heat four of the women’s 200m individual medley.

Day three of the Olympic Games will also see University of Bath graduates Amy Wilson Hardy and Natasha Hunt challenge for medals in the women’s rugby sevens.

Both have been in sparkling, try-scoring form as Team GB topped their group with wins over Brazil, Japan and Canada before beating Fiji 26-7 in the quarter-finals.

They will now face New Zealand at 7pm BST on Monday, hoping to book their place in the gold-medal match at 11pm.

Fellow graduate Heather Stanning is also due to finally make her first appearance at Rio 2016, where she is defending her women’s pair title alongside Helen Glover.

Strong winds meant their heat, along with all the rowing, was cancelled on Sunday. Their race has now been rescheduled for 4.30pm BST on Monday.

Both Stanning and Glover came through the GB Rowing Team Start talent ID and development programme at the University of Bath and Minerva Bath RC, as did Vicky Thornley who has qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s double scull with defending champion Katherine Grainger. They were runners-up in their heat on Saturday.

Report courtesy of Team GB Press Office and Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd