Ben Proud lands second medal of 2017 European Short Course Champs

Ben Proud won his second medal of his maiden European Short Course Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Plymouth Leander swimmer clocked 22.44 to finish tied for third in the 50m Butterfly final.

Proud, who became 50m Fly world champion in the long course pool earlier this year, had already picked up silver over the 50m Free in Denmark.

“I’m really happy and satisfied, despite qualifying first to the final,” said Proud.

“I’m on the podium now so it’s pretty good as in the 50m, anything can happen.”

Blanket finish for top four

A thrilling final saw the first four swimmers separated by just 0.02 seconds.

Proud was in lane four, having qualified fastest from the semi finals with a British record 22.18.

But the English swimmer couldn’t escape the field in the final, with Russia’s Aleksandr Popkov ultimately taking the touch in a blanket finish on 22.42.

Ukraine’s three-time champion Andriy Govorov won silver on 22.43 while Proud shared the third step of the podium with Serbia’s Sebastian Sabo.

Adam Peaty also reached the podium on the penultimate night in Copenhagen, winning 100m Breaststroke gold.

Image credit: Deepbluemedia / Giorgio Scala