Adam Peaty wins European 100m breaststroke gold ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Adam Peaty struck gold again as Great Britain enjoyed a night to remember at the European Aquatics Championships in Budapest.

Peaty defended his men’s 100 metres breaststroke in style to win his 13th European gold medal in a time of 57.66 seconds. Dutchman Arno Kamminga (58.10secs) took second, with Britain’s James Wilby (58.58secs) in third.

“That was good, it was a very tactical race,” Peaty said after pressing on the accelerator down the final 25 metres to claim his fourth successive 100m breaststroke European crown. “That’s right at the edge of what I can do mid-season, with my moustache.

“Once I hit taper and am properly shaved, I’ll have a nice bit of preparation into the Olympics and it’ll be a good time. It’s just testament to how powerful my stroke is feeling, so come the Olympics, it’s hopefully going to be a good show. It’s going to be a tough battle in Tokyo. There’s going to be a lot of guys going low 58s or 57 high, and it’s going to be an interesting time for 100 metres breaststroke.”

On a night when Molly Renshaw (women’s 100m breaststroke) and Kathleen Dawson (50m backstroke) broke British records with semi-final swims, Great Britain’s mixed 4x200m freestyle relay squad won another gold.

Tom Dean, James Guy, Abbie Wood and Freya Anderson led from start to finish to break British and Championship records in a time of seven minutes 26.67 seconds.

Guy told the BBC: “This is quite a new team and quite a new event for the world of swimming, but it was a really good swim by all four of us. The main focus here is just trying to progress things on, as the main meet for us is obviously the Olympic Games. But it’s another gold for the team and four really good swims.”

British swimmers have secured six medals after two days of competition in the Hungarian capital. Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov lowered his own 50m backstroke world record for the second time in as many days by dropping it from 23.93 to 23.80 in the final.

PA

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