Nicola Muscat was the youngest person to compete for Malta at the London Games at the age of 18. She had not taken part in any previous Olympic Games. Muscat qualified for the Games after receiving a wildcard from FINA because her fastest time of 26.87 seconds was 1.11 second slower than the "B" qualifying standard for her event, the women's 50 metre freestyle. Before the Games she said, "Competing at international competitions makes you learn to be realistic about winning and making achievable aims. For example, my main aim at the Olympics is to break my own national record." Muscat was drawn in the event's fifth heat on 3 August, finishing fourth out of eight athletes, with a time of 27.22 seconds. Overall she ranked 43rd out of 73 swimmers, and was unable to advance to the semi-finals after finishing 1.94 seconds slower than the slowest competitor who made the later stages.