Unlike in the Velodrome where Team GB reigns supreme, the host nation's swimmers have underperformed at London 2012 although this was supposed to be the night when that all that changed in the shape of defending champion Rebecca Adlington.

The darling of British swimming received a deafening welcome as she entered the arena and knelt down to splash water over her face in preparation for what was expected to be an eagerly awaited showdown with her long-time rival, Lotte Friis of Denmark.

But neither of them looked comfortable with the blistering pace set by Ledecky (pictured top, in centre), the third 15-year-old to win gold at these Games, who swept the field aside to come home in 8min 14.63sec.

The teenager was simply breathtaking, not only holding on to her early lead but, just when most experts expected her to tire, stretching it in the final stages to finish more than four seconds ahead of second-placed Mireia Belmonte García, who was only fourth fastest in qualifying and gave Spain a surprise silver.

Rebecca Adlington shows her emotions after taking bronze in the 800m freestyle

If Adlington, who ended Britain's long drought in swimming by winning two gold medals in Beijing four years ago, was disappointed after all the hype, so must Friis have been, the Dane finishing back in fifth.

"I have set some good short- and long-term - goals and put in some hard training, and it has paid off incredibly," said Ledecky.

"This crowd was incredible for Rebecca Adlington so I just tried to calm myself – I was actually a lot less nervous than I thought I'd be."

Adlington, who is also world champion and world record holder, could not disguise her disappointment as time appeared to catch up with her as she finished in 8:20.32.

The 16-length event was expected to be a two-horse race between her and Friis but Ledecky ripped up the form book.

"That was so painful, it gets more painful the older I get," Adlington said.

"Ledecky went out so fast, she is absolutely incredible.

"The pressure, the expectations and everything going into this meet was difficult.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm not happy with that time, I've beaten it all year but everything seemed to catch up with me here.

"But a bronze medal is nothing to be embarrassed about – I hate when people say that that's losing.

"Swimming is so, so difficult and I hope people are proud of me for getting that bronze."

Michael Phelps powers to Olympic gold medal number 17 in the 100m butterfly

If Ledecky was the surprise of the night, at the other end of the spectrum Michael Phelps predictably made it Olympic medal number 21 – 17 of them gold – this time in the 100m butterfly.

Phelps was actually seventh at one point but powered home ahead of South Africa's Chad le Clos.

Yesterday, the irrepressible Phelps became the first man to win the same event at three straight Games in the 200m medley; now he has done it a second time in what was his final individual Olympic race of a remarkable career.

"I don't even want to complain about going slower or having a bad turn, I'm just happy that the last one was a win," said the American phenomenon.

"That's all I really wanted, and this one was a bigger margin of victory than the last two combined, so we can smile and be happy – it was fun."

The absence of Phelps from future Games will be a relief to all pretenders to his many thrones.

"I thought it would hit me harder than what it is right now," he said.

"A lot of those emotions haven't really come through my brain in the last week.

"Once I'm done, there's going to be a lot more emotion."

Phelps was beaten into fourth place at the start of these Games with some cynics suggesting he was a spent force.

Was he heck.

"My start of the meet wasn't what we wanted, but I seemed to pick up some steam at the end of the meet, and was able to finish with two individual golds," he said.

"To be able to finish that way, you can't really finish any better.

"I'm very pleased with how everything went."

"It was just cool to be able to get out and feel the energy from the stands.

"It was loud, it's been loud the last two nights, and they're loud cheering for us, so the least we can do is put on a good show for the crowd."

Missy Franklin en route to 200m backstroke victory in world record time

If all that wasn't enough, in the women's 200m backstroke Missy Franklin, at just 17, won her third gold medal of London 2012 in a world record time of 2:04.06.

"I'm the happiest girl alive," she said.

"It's an incredible field I was up against.

"On my way home in the last 25 I couldn't even feel my arms and legs."

Adlington shed tears on the podium, possibly in dejection as much as elation.

Just to rub salt in the wounds of the host nation, at least as far as swimming is concerned, France picked up its fourth gold in the pool as Florent Manaudou posted another upset by clinching the 50m freestyle sprint title.

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