Bronte finished fourth and Cate came sixth in the medal race.

Cate led and Bronte was second at the turn but American Simone Manuel overtook them to win the gold medal.

The shock placings for the Australian sisters came after compatriot Mitch Larkin earlier won a silver medal in the 200m backstroke final.

But the misery has continued for Larkin’s girlfriend Emily Seebohm, who was inconsolable after missing the cut for her 200m backstroke final.

Seebohm, who earlier in the Games finished seventh in her 100m backstroke final, came a lagging sixth in her semi-final, while fellow backstroker Belinda Hocking secured a spot in Friday night’s medal race.

Earlier, Larkin was coming to terms with winning his first Olympic medal moments after his partner Seebohm’s latest failure.

“To come away with a silver, I am pretty happy,” Larkin said.

“Coming into this week the goal was to get a gold. But to realise I am a silver medallist is pretty amazing.”

Larkin said his partner Seebohm’s disappointment wouldn’t end her competitive swimming career.

A bawling Seebohm stormed past waiting reporters after her swim.

But she’s not the only Australian swimmer grappling with disappointment: Cameron McEvoy couldn’t rebound from his unexpected seventh in the 100m freestyle final on Thursday night, missing the cut for the 50m freestyle final.

McEvoy was 11th fastest in the semi-finals and then agreed with Australian swimming’s head coach Jacco Verhaeren’s assessment that he suffered stage fright in the 100m final.

“It is always hard as an athlete to admit that you didn’t deliver mentally, you always like to think you have some level of mental toughness,” he said.

Australian Taylor McKeown finished fifth in the women’s 200m breaststroke final.

-AAP