The Berlin leg of this year's World Cup series was one of the fastest meets I've ever been to. I thought the Stockholm meet three days prior was fast but here in Germany it was even stronger.

In the heats of the 400m freestyle I was seeded next to Germany's hometown hero, Paul Biedermann. He is best known for winning two golds at the World Championships in Rome this past summer and taking down the records of Thorpe, Hackett and Phelps in the process.

In the heats I raced close to him the whole way, swimming a PB time of 3.39.19 which qualified me second for the final, only 0.3 seconds behind Paul.

The final was another amazing experience as I was between two German swimmers in front of their home crowds and, with Biedermann expected to smash the world record, the crowd was very loud.

There were a few guys in the final who tried to go out fast with Biedermann who took a strong lead early on.

I hung back early in the race, dropping to 7th with 100m to go and 6th with 50m to go, but put in a strong last 50m really working my underwater kicks off the wall and, with the front runners dying towards the end, I managed to touch for 3rd.

I swam another big PB of 3.38.35 but there is still some way to go with Biedermann smashing Grant Hackett's world record, going sub 3:33, an amazing time.

I gained great experience racing in Europe for these last two meets. The distance freestylers over there definitely know who I am now. It was good to meet them personally and also gain their respect in the pool.

We're in Singapore now for the final leg of the World Cup.