JO JACKSON revealed she will be taking a break from swimming after London 2012 – but refused to state whether her exile would be permanent or temporary.

The 25-year-old North Yorkshire swimmer failed to reach the final of the 400 metres freestyle on the second morning at the Olympic Aquatics Centre.

It marks a painful four-year cycle for Jackson, who at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 was celebrating winning bronze in the 400m alongside winner and best friend Rebecca Adlington.

Her issues with asthma leading to injury have been well documented and, despite still having a role to play in Britain’s 4x200m freestyle relay team, it appears her career is nearing its end.

Jackson did confirm that London 2012 would be her third and final Olympic appearance but wouldn’t go as far as to say it would be her last ever outing in the pool.

“It’s probably going to be my last Olympics so I wanted to go out on a high but things haven’t gone well for me for a few years,” said Northallerton’s Jackson.

“Will I retire? At the moment never say never. I’m going to have a few months to relax and if I miss it I can always come back. But at the same time I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t part of the British team. I have been on it since 2003.”

Jackson clocked a time of four minutes 11.50 seconds in the 400m freestyle heats – ranking her down in 21st and almost six seconds away from reaching the medal showdown.

Adlington only scraped into the final herself, taking the eighth and final spot, but she went on to win bronze in last night’s final.

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