LONDON, July 28: Pakistan’s 15-year-old swimmer Anum Bandey set a new national record but bowed out of the Olympics after finishing fourth in the heats of the women's 400 metres individual medley at the Aquatics Centre on Saturday.

Anum, who trains at the Barnet Copthall Club in the UK, finished with a timing of 5:34.64, improving on the national record set by Olympian Kiran Khan by three seconds.

Anum, a wildcard entry, swam in lane 6 and finished 44 seconds behind Vietnam's Thi Anh Vien Nguyen, who romped to victory with a timing of 4:50.32.

Mexico’s Susana Escobar finished second with a time of 4:50.57 while Noora Laukkanen of Finland was third in 4:53.54.

“You can learn a lot from here. I have learnt a lot from the older athletes. I am still young — I’m 15,” Anum told reporters afterwards.

“Competing at the Olympics has helped me improve.”

On the experience of her first Olympic Games, she added: “It was amazing. I was really nervous at the start.

“I had to break the national record which I did but I have been preparing for a year. It’s one I will remember for a long time.”

It may be recalled that Anum was also selected for Pakistan to take part in the last South Asian Games but was surprisingly dropped at the last moment amid controversial circumstances.