The teenager is officially the sixth best Olympian in the women's 100 metres butterfly.

As she relaxed at her Hartlepool home, she looked back on an experience she will never forget.

CHRIS CORDNER met her.

SHE'S swum in an Olympic final in front of 19,000 spectators.

She just missed out on a medal as part of an elite British relay team - and she boasts double gold medallist Rebecca Adlington as one of her pals.

But behind it all, Jemma Lowe remains a down-to-earth teenager who is just loving the exhilaration of being one of the top sportswomen in the country.

Jemma, 18, is back home in Hylton Road, Hartlepool, with dad Mike, 50, mum Janet, 48, and sister Naomi, 21, after two weeks of competing in one of the most successful Olympics the world has ever seen.

"It still feels weird to be home," she said. "It's post Olympic blues I think," she adds.

"I can't believe it is another four years until the next one but I am ready to go again."

In a games which saw awe-inspiring performances, Jemma more than held her own. She has the proof.

There, in beautifully ornate boxes, are the certificates inscribed in silk which officially show she came sixth in the women's 100 metres butterfly final and fourth in the women's relay.

Her family's home is filled with cards - each congratulating Jemma on her achievements. She has kept the Great Britain tracksuit which she wore with pride in Beijing.

And she's kept the bright pink jacket which she wore in the Bird's Nest stadium for the 2008 closing ceremony of the Olympics.

On the back, it said: "See you in London."

There are memories galore for Jemma.

She's met some of the most famous people on the planet while she stayed in the Olympic village. She met tennis stars Andy Murray and Jamie Murray, and footballer Ronaldinho.

She's already met US swimming sensation Michael Phelps.

And she was room-mates in a six-bed apartment with stars of the British team including Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten - the swimmers who took silver and bronze for Team GB in the 10km race.

Next door neighbour was Rebecca Adlington. Two golds catapulted the British swimmer into superstar status. "We were all good friends," said Jemma.

"She is just a normal down to earth person. I don't think it had sunk with her at the time what she had done. I was more excited than she was. Her whole life will change."

Jemma was in the cooldown pool from her own race when Rebecca swam to her second gold.

But enough of the others. Jemma is a star in her own right.

I asked Britain's best butterfly racer what it felt like to walk into an Olympic village. "It was beautiful," she said.

"There were lots of ornaments, statues and little rivers. We were in apartments of six people with two to a room.

"We had sofas, a fridge and a big television."

When she was not swimming, Jemma's time was filled with "a lot of walking from the apartment and going to the dining hall. I did normal things like listening to music and talking to people."

Jemma is still amazed at the size of the dining hall. "You would have Mediterranean, Asian, European food, fruits and cereals and then you would have it all again down the other side of the hall
"It had a McDonald's in there but bigger than the normal McDonald's.

"It took about ten minutes to walk from one side to the other."

Mum Janet recalled her own experiences of watching Jemma race. "You are just so nervous," says Janet.

"She's the worst of everyone for that," chips in Jemma.

Janet agrees and says: "It is really hard because you know all the people Jemma is swimming against are really good. I just want her to do well." She admits she is "so proud" of her daughter.

"We have supported her since she was ten," says Janet.

Jemma arrived back in England with the rest of Team GB and then flew to Newcastle. But there was no immediate return home.

She was whisked straight off to Wales for an open-topped bus tour of Cardiff - the capital of the country she represents in the Commonwealth Games.

She arrived in Hartlepool a day later. There waiting for her were her family and a set of A-level results.

She passed three A levels with a B in Maths, B in PE and C in Biology although the Maths test is to be remarked. It was one point off an A grade.

The results are pretty much what she had hoped for, she says.

Jemma was originally planning to study Maths at university. Now she's not so sure. "I am changing my mind all the time," she tells Mail2.

The immediate future will see her return to intensive training today.
She's also going through a change in coach.

But she can look back on a fortnight of fantastic memories. I asked her to recall the highlights.

"Walking into the Olympic village, walking into the Water Cube, walking out to the crowd, seeing Rebecca as she won gold. listening to the National Anthem after she won, the closing ceremony. It was all fantastic."