The swimming programme was completed yesterday and on the final day there were no more medals for the Maltese as Neil Agius and Angela Galea placed fourth in their respective events.

Neil Agius was first to take to the pool taking part in the 1,500 metres. He swam hard all the way and was close to the Icelandic swimmer who eventually took the bronze for most of the way.

Till 200 metres from the end, there was only a fraction of a second separating both swimmers, though the leader, from San Marino, was way ahead and had no doubt about winning the gold.

It was in the final 150 metres that Agius saw the gap between him and the Iceland swimmer increasing and at the end he had to be content with fourth place. His time was clocked at 17:10.64.

The winner was clocked at 16:27.88, while the third placed Icelander clocked 17:05.51

At the end of the event, he said: "I gave my all and I am slightly disappointed that I did not have a good time. But even the others registered very slow times. And this is certainly because of the altitude. Had I managed my personal best, I would have been on the podium," he said.

Soon after, it was the turn of Angela Galea who took part in the 400m individual medley.

She had a 'flying' start in the butterfly and was still in contention in the back stroke, but missed some seconds in the back stroke which is not among her favourite strokes. She fought back in the free style, but it was not enough for her to get the bronze which would have enabled her to make a memorable treble of medal wins here.

She clocked 5:23.27, while third placed Johanna Gerda Gustafsdottir was clocked at 5:19.60.

At the end of the programme, coach Steve Kormos said: "I cannot say I am disappointed with the swimmers. They have certainly given their best and did what was expected of them. Taking note of the times registered by all competitors, one gets the realistic impression that the altitude played its part as well in a big manner. In fact, if I am not mistaken, only one record has been registered here. Yet, I must say I am happy with the performances of my squad and I am convinced they are able to show further improvement in future."