The 2008 Summer Olympics marked Australian-born Ryan Gambin's Olympic debut. He qualified for the Beijing Olympics by going 0.38 seconds faster than the "B" (FINA/Invitation) qualifying standard for the men's 100 metres butterfly competition with a time of 54.33 seconds at the 2008 European Aquatics Championships in Eindhoven. Gambin said that competing in Swimming competition at the Olympics was the fulfilment of his childhood ambitions and he aimed to reach the semi-finals of his event, "Whenever the going gets difficult, I remind myself of why I'm doing it. I think of my goals and I relate it back to how it is going to feel in a race. That usually pulls me through the tough sets." He was drawn in the fourth heat on 14 August, finishing sixth out of eighth athletes, with a time of 53.70 seconds. Gambin's time established a new Maltese national record and a new personal best. Overall he came 48th out of 66 swimmers, and did not progress into the semi-finals because he was 1.65 seconds slower than the slowest competitor who advanced to the next stage.