Record-breaking Great Britain burst out of the blocks at the rescheduled European Aquatics Championships with a gold and two silvers on the opening day of swimming competition in Budapest, Hungary.
With just 67 days to go until the first gun at swimming events in Tokyo this summer, the women’s 4x100m freestyle team broke the British record to win gold in the event for the first time in 94 years, and achieve the Olympic consideration time.
Japan-bound trio Anna Hopkin, Abbie Wood and Freya Anderson - alongside Lucy Hope - knocked a second and a half off the previous British best, posting a time of 3:34.17 to finish ahead of the Netherlands in the night’s penultimate race.
Wood said: “It’s a group of three really strong freestyle girls and I feel like I just had to pull my weight and give it a go. To come away with my first senior medal and a British record I’m just over the moon, and it’s a really good start to the meet.”
🚨 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱!!! 🚨@LucyHope_, @annahopkin, @abbielouisew and @freyaandersonn take over a second and a half off the previous record on their way to gold in the Women's 4x100m Freestyle 🥇🥇🥇🥇 pic.twitter.com/PLRrSMDpJx
— British Swimming (@britishswimming) May 17, 2021
In the men’s event Tom Dean, Matthew Richards, James Guy and Duncan Scott - all heading to Tokyo - rounded off the session in style with silver, similarly breaking the British record.
A time of 3:11.56 saw them finish between champions Russia and third-placed Italy, to end a 59-year medal drought in the event.
Scott said: “We had a good swim all round to get a British record. To go faster than we did in 2019 was the aim and we managed to do that, and to get a medal is great.
“It’s the first time we’ve come together and done a 4x100 and that gives us confidence going forward.”
Rio 2016 finalist Aimee Willmott had earlier got GB off to a flying start to the session with joint silver in the women’s 400m IM - the first final of the Championships.
The 28-year-old - who delayed retirement for the postponed Games - had controlled much of her heat to advance to the final, in which she stayed on the toes of eventual Hungarian champion Katinka Hosszu throughout.
A time of 4:36.81 was enough to earn Willmott a share of second place alongside Hosszu’s compatriot Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas, and her first European medal since she picked up a silver and a bronze in Berlin seven years ago.
The 2018 Commonwealth champion said: “Obviously it’s nice to get on the podium and it was good to actually get in and swim a race, as at British trials a couple of weeks ago it was just me and the clock.
“I’d have liked to swim a little bit quicker than that, but I guess this is just a stepping stone and a platform to the summer. To take away silver - I’m pretty chuffed.”
Elsewhere reigning Olympic champion Adam Peaty won the second 100m breaststroke semi-final with a time of 57.67s to book his place in Tuesday’s final, alongside fellow countryman James Wilby.
In addition to her relay success Hopkin sealed her spot in Tuesday’s women’s 50m freestyle final, after posting a time of 24.66s to finish fourth in her semi-final.
Feature image credit: Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
Sportsbeat 2021