Dale Oen remembered in Debrecen

The European Swimming Championships kicked off with an emotional backdrop in Debrecen on Monday.

Before the action started, tributes were paid to Norwegian swimmer Alexander Dale Oen who died last month.

A minute's applause was respected before the start of the racing, which began with German Paul Biedermann winning the 400 metres freestyle. Britain's Robbie Renwick was fourth in a time of 3:50:46, just close to two seconds off third.

Local hero Katinka Hosszu celebrated gold in the women's 400m medley, but the mood could still not be lifted too much, with a video tribute played to Dale Oen.

In the relays, France's men won the 4x100m freestyle ahead of Italy and Russia, doing so in a time of 3:13:55, while Germany touched the side first in the women's race, keeping Sweden and Italy at bay and pushing Hungary into fourth - much to the dismay of the home crowd.