Lizzie Simmonds and Gemma Spofforth claimed a one-two for Great Britain in the 200 metres backstroke at the European Championships in Budapest.
Liam Tancock got the evening session off to a good start for the British team when he took the bronze medal in the 100m backstroke, despite only scraping into the final when the Austrian Markus Rogan withdrew. The two women then dominated over four lengths on the second day of the pool competition in Hungary.
The 19-year-old Simmonds led from the start, establishing a body-length lead after the first turn. At the halfway point she was inside European record time.
Spofforth, the world champion over 100m, made inroads in the second part of the race, moving through to second at halfway, but she could not threaten her team-mate, Simmonds winning in 2min 7.04sec – 1.21sec ahead. The Loughborough swimmer was fifth at last summer's world championships and she has had a superb 2010, heading the world rankings and enjoying victories across Europe.
"I knew with the way I am swimming races at the moment I had to go out and give it everything from the start," she said. "I knew I'd got to do that and get out there ahead of the field. It's the way I swim. It was a great race tonight. I knew Gemma was going to go pretty fast; it was never going to be an easy race. There was a lane between us. I couldn't really see her, it was just about getting out there and giving it the best I could."
Tancock had finished ninth in the 100m backstroke semi-finals but he enjoyed an unexpected reprieve when Rogan pulled out. Swimming from lane eight, the world 50m champion had a good start and held his form throughout to touch third in 53.86sec, with Camille Lacourt heading a French one-two in a European record of 52.11 ahead of Jeremy Stravius.
"It's brilliant. I only made the final because Markus Rogan withdrew, but today I was much better," said Tancock. "I'm not fully prepared here because I'm concentrating on the Commonwealth Games [in October]."
Elsewhere, Fran Halsall was the third fastest through to the 100m freestyle final in 54.16, although Amy Smith missed out, finishing 12th overall. Robbie Renwick was fourth into the 200m freestyle final, although Ross Davenport missed out, while Joe Roebuck was fifth fastest into the 200m individual medley final.
Therese Alshammar won the 50m butterfly, Rafael Muñoz, who last week avoided a ban despite missing three dope tests, took the men's equivalent, and Alexander Dale Oen took the 100m breaststroke.