Record-breaking gold for mixed medley swim team

Adam Peaty, James Guy and Freya Anderson led Great Britain to the top of the podium in the medley mixed relay alongside teammate Georgia Davies on the fourth day of the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow.

The foursome touched home in an impressive 3:40.18 to secure the gold medal at Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow, smashing Great Britain’s previously held European record of 3:41.56 set at the World Championships in Budapest last year.

Welsh swimmer Georgia Davies led the quartet off with a strong backstroke leg (59.12) before Adam Peaty completed his 100m breaststroke swim in 57.27.

James Guy impressed on the butterfly (50.96) and Freya Anderson, who kept her cool to bring the gold home on the final freestyle leg (52.83).

Peaty said: “I was probably feeling about a nine out of 10 today. After the world record I was a bit sore, but it was great to get back into the pool and win.”

The quartet were supported by teammates Nicholas Pyle and Charlotte Atkinson in the preliminaries where they had qualified first in their heat with 3:47.44.

Seventeen-year-old Anderson said: “You’ve got to stick to your own tactics. It’s a great atmosphere and it’s great to have a home crowd.”

Russia took the silver in 3:42.71 with the bronze going to Italy.

Silver for Wilby

Commonwealth Champion James Wilby won the silver medal in the 200m Breaststroke in a time of 2:08.39.

The 24-year-old was kept off the top spot by Russia’s Anton Chupkov, who touched in at 2:06.80 to shave 0.19 seconds from his own European Record.

This silver medal adds to the one already taken home by the Loughborough National Centre swimmer in the 100m Breaststroke on day two of the competition.

He said: “I’ve had such a great year with the 100m and 200m, and I’m looking forward to the next two years working towards Tokyo.”

Scotland’s Ross Murdoch narrowly missed out on the medals finishing in fourth place in 2:08.55 – only 0.01 second behind Italy’s Luca Pizzini who managed took the bronze in 2:08.54.

Litchfield returns

After missing the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast due to a shoulder injury earlier this year, Max Litchfield marked his return with a bronze medal in the 200m Individual Medley.

The 23-year-old City of Sheffield swimmer put in a strong performance as he clocked 1:57.96 after being second fastest into the final.

Gold went to Jeremy Desplanches of Switzerland in 1:57.04, with Philip Heintz of Germany finishing second with 1:57.83.

Scottish Swimmer Mark Szaranek came fifth in a time of 1:58.88.

Ellie Faulkner missed out on the medals in the 200m Freestyle. The City of Sheffield swimmer took fourth place after recording 1:58.26. Teammate and lane neighbour, 18-year-old Holly Hibbott, finished in seventh place with a time of 1:58.64.

Gold went to France’s Charlotte Bonnet in 1:54.95, silver was secured by Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands in 1:56.72 and Russia’s Anastasia Guzhenkova was the bronze medallist after finishing in 1:56.77.

Elsewhere, Wales’ Alys Thomas secured bronze in the 200m Butterfly final in 2:07.42 to take Team GB’s medal tally for the evening to four.

English swimmers securing their spots in tomorrow’s finals include Molly Renshaw in the 200m Breaststroke final, Guy will be competing in the 200m Freestyle final after qualifying in 1:46.44, while Ben Proud will be lining up for the 50m Butterfly final after qualifying in 23.01.

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