Charlotte swimmer Cammile Adams just misses a medal in 200 butterfly

American swimmer Cammile Adams finished fourth in the women’s 200-meter butterfly Wednesday night at the Olympics, missing out on a medal by 0.70 seconds despite swimming a time that was her personal best.

Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia won the gold and Australia’s Madeline Groves took the silver. Adams closed the distance on Japanese bronze medalist Natsumi Hoshi on the final lap, but Hoshimi ended up clocking a time of 2:05.20. Adams finished in 2:05.90.

Said Adams: “I’ve been wanting to go under 2:06 for so long, for four years now to be honest. I think to break that 2:06 marker, I’m just so incredibly proud of myself. ... Yeah, I’m bummed to not get a medal. But I think I’m more bummed I’m not adding to the USA’s count.”

Adams, 24, moved to Charlotte to train with SwimMAC Carolina for this Olympic cycle, and she is planning a wedding for Oct. 15 back in her native Texas. A two-time Olympian – she finished fifth in this same event in the 2012 Olympics in London – she was elected a team captain by her American teammates before these Games.

Adams is a twin. Her fiance has a job in Texas and she plans to move there after these Olympics and continue her swimming career at a club in Houston. She will graduate from Texas A&M in December and eventually plans to be a speech pathologist.

Her goggles broke just before the race, which required her to go back to her bag for a substitute pair. She was the last one on the blocks because of that, but nevertheless swam the personal-best time. And she didn’t sound disappointed after the race, despite how close she came to a medal.

Said Adams: “I looked at myself in the mirror as I was putting on my makeup the first night and I said, ‘Cam, you are so amazing.’ I’m so proud of who I am. I said as long as I did my best, I was going to be happy with that.”

With no more events to swim in this meet, Adams will end up as the only one of the seven swimmers based in North Carolina for these Olympics who will not earn a medal. Adams was so intent on going to Rio for these Olympics and performing well that she said to The Observer before these Games about the Zika virus, which has caused a public health emergency in Brazil: “You could tell me I’m going to get Zika, and I’m going to go anyway.”

The other American in the race, Hali Flickinger, was seventh. It was the first women’s swimming event in these Olympics that didn’t result in a U.S. medalist.

This story was originally published August 10, 2016 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Charlotte swimmer Cammile Adams just misses a medal in 200 butterfly."