Rio 2016: Australian swimming team's up-and-down campaign

It is hard to decide how to feel about Australia's swimming effort at the Olympic Games in Rio after a hit-and-miss opening week.

It is fair to say it was better than London 2012, but it was not exactly the wall-to-wall excitement of Sydney 2000.

Three gold medals, four silver and three bronze is not a tally to sneeze at, but it would not be overstating things to say the Australian team was expecting more.

So where did the Aussie Dolphins shine and where did they fall down?

Women's 4x100m freestyle relay

PHOTO: (L to R) Emma McKeon, Brittany Elmslie, Bronte Campbell and Cate Campbell with their 4x100m freestyle gold medals.(Getty Images: Clive Rose)

Remember a few sentences ago when we said Mack Horton made us all happy on day one? So did the women's 4x100m freestyle relay squad.

Anchored by Cate and Bronte Campbell, and featuring Emma McKeon (more on her later) and Brittany Elmslie, they stormed to victory in the last race of the first day in world-record time.

In winning the relay, they also defended the only swimming gold Australia won at London 2012.

Kyle Chalmers

PHOTO: Kyle Chalmers emerged as another Aussie star in Rio. (Getty: Clive Rose)

Anyone who knew anything about swimming knew about Kyle Chalmers thanks to his rapid rise and brilliant times to qualify for the Rio team, but this 18-year-old beast put everyone else on notice with a gutsy swim against Michael Phelps as Australia won bronze in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay on night two.

Then came the individual 100m, in which he qualified second-fastest for the final, but he was still being talked about behind Australia's other big hope, Cameron McEvoy.

But, after turning in seventh before storming home for one of the most exciting Aussie swimming wins in Olympic history, he etched his name in the record books.

He also anchored the men's 4x100m medley relay and snared Australia bronze in the final race of the program.

Emma McKeon

PHOTO: Emma McKeon was one of only two Australian individual female swimming medallists. (Getty: Adam Pretty)

One of only two Australian female individual medal winners in the Rio pool, along with Maddie Groves, Emma McKeon's Games kicked off on a high with gold in the 4x100m freestyle, but she was reduced to tears by a seventh-placed finish in the 100m butterfly on day two.

Her jubilation was clear after snatching bronze in the 200m freestyle, won by the all-conquering Katie Ledecky, she swam a blistering second leg as the Aussies won silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay, andadded another silver medal as the butterfly quarter of the 4x100m medley relay.

The 22-year-old finished with one gold, two silver and a bronze - not too shabby at all.

Below their best

PHOTO: Cate Campbell was Australia's gold-medal favourite in the women's 100m freestyle. (AFP: Christophe Simon)

Cate Campbell

Cate Campbell's swim in the 100m freestyle final was "possibly the greatest choke in Olympic history". Her words.

The world-record holder coasted through qualifying and looked relaxed before the final, but finished a disappointing sixth, having been ahead of her own world record through the first half of the race.

She could not redeem herself in the 50m, finishing fifth.

The 24-year-old won gold on night one with the 4x100m freestyle team and silver in the medley relay, but no-one would have predicted she would leave Rio without an individual medal.

Bronte Campbell

A similar story to older sister Cate, but Bronte only missed the 100m podium by 0.05 of a second.

She is, however, the reigning 50m world champion and only managed to finish seventh in that final.

Emily Seebohm

PHOTO: Emily Seebohm finished seventh in the 100m backstroke final and missed the 200m final. (Getty Images: Adam Pretty)

Alongside James Magnussen, Seebohm was an unfortunate poster child of the disappointment that was London 2012, but there was little redemption in Rio.

She entered the Games as the 100m and 200m backstroke world champion but, having been reduced to tears by a silver medal in London, she was second-last in the 100m final.

Seebohm failed to qualify for the 200m final, with her 4x100m medley silver her only reward in Rio.

Mitch Larkin

PHOTO: Aiming for the double, Mitch Larkin (left) could not win the 100m or 200m backstroke. (AP Photo: Matt Slocum)

Larkin was touched out by 0.03 of a second for 100m backstroke bronze but managed to claim silver in the 200m behind American Ryan Murphy.

He also snared bronze in the 4x100m medley relay. So why were his Games disappointing?

Like girlfriend Seebohm, Larkin was looking to do the backstroke double in Rio after winning the 100m and 200m in Kazan, but he fell short and probably was not helped by the fact that the pair's 100m misses came within minutes of each other on the third night.

Cameron McEvoy

PHOTO: Cameron McEvoy (left) was incredibly gracious after a disappointing 100m final. (Getty: Clive Rose)

Australia's collective disappointment in the performance of 'Big Boy' McEvoy was offset by the joy of seeing Chalmers emerge as the biggest thing in swimming at just 18 years of age, but no doubt McEvoy's Games were a disappointment.

Despite dropping the 200m freestyle from his schedule before the Games and being pulled from the 4x200m relay on the day of competition, McEvoy finished seventh in the 100m final after winning silver at last year's world championships in Kazan.

He also missed the final of the 50m freestyle, with bronze medals in the 4x100m freestyle and medley relays his only bling from Rio.

Resource: abc.net.au