Live - European Swimming Championships

Live swimming - European Championships

LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times BST)

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By Ollie Williams

From heptathlete Kelly Sotherton on Twitter: "I feel for Becky Adlington, but if you're in heavy training for the Commonwealths, you can't be disappointed with your performance! It will come when it's meant to."

1646: Now then. Next is the women's 100m backstroke final. Don't you move an inch, because Lizzie Simmonds and Gemma Spofforth, the Sharky and George of women's backstroke, are here again.

1645: No sweat for Daniel Gyurta as he leads Norway's Alexander Dale Oen home, taking gold for the host nation in the men's 200m breaststroke.

1642: Back to the action and Hungary's Daniel Gyurta, the European record holder, is off and motoring in the men's 200m breaststroke final.

1640: As we head into the Adlingtonless 800m freestyle medal ceremony, it's a good time to reflect on this tournament four years ago. Budapest 2006 brought Adlington's first medal, a silver in the same event. BBC Sport's Sharron Davies has a video looking back - and seeing how far Britain's swimmers, who won just two golds in 2006, have come.

1636: Plenty of people saying Rebecca Adlington should have focused on the Europeans, with an immensely strong field, rather than the Commonwealths which is likely to be weaker. However, it may not necessarily have been her decision. She certainly looked devastated to have finished seventh, what are your thoughts? Let us know on 606 or send me a tweet (I'm @BBCSport_Ollie on Twitter).

1632: Swedish duo Therese Alshammar and Sarah Sjoestroem dominate the second women's 100m fly semi. Sjoestroem and Alshammar are first and second respectively (the former is 16, the latter is double that), and Fran Halsall nips in third to make sure of her place in the final.

Simon Burnett, who missed the men's 100m free final: "I was really hurting a lot at the end of that race, which you could probably see. I had a shocking finish, it's as though as you get older you get more stupid. I've never been under 49 seconds in shorts, I'm happy but I'd like to have gone under."

1628: On to the women's 100m fly semis, where Jemma Lowe finishes fifth in 59.16, which leaves her place in the final in jeopardy. Fran Halsall's coming up for GB in race two.

1625: Russia's Evgeny Lagunov wins the second men's 100m free semi-final in 48.38 and he's the fastest qualifier, but Simon Burnett of Britain will miss the final by just two hundredths of a second, with Grant Turner further back. "That was a masterclass in what not to do on a finish," says 2004 Olympic bronze medallist Steve Parry of Burnett on 5 live sports extra.

From VillaFour on 606: "How unlucky was that for Grainne Murphy in the 800m free? A good PB for Grainne, considering she went flat out in the heats. Medal contender in 2012?"

1620: "I've got the 4x200m later on, I need to pick myself up. It's hard when you're not rested," says a tearful Rebecca Adlington after finishing down in seventh, as the first men's 100m freestyle semi-final gets going. Simon Burnett and Grant Turner are in the second semi for Britain.

1617: Hannah Miley battles her way up into the top four and then, with a last surge, takes the bronze behind Hungary's Katinka Hosszu and Hosszu's team-mate Evelyn Verraszto. Very impressive from Miley to come back after the fly leg, which is her weak point.

1613: So, one British medal hope may have been shot down but there are hatfuls remaining, starting with Hannah Miley in the 200m individual medley, coming up now.

1611: Denmark's Lotte Friis claims the European women's 800m freestyle gold in a time of 8:23.27, ahead of France's Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne and Italy's Federica Pellegrini, which cruelly deprives Ireland's 17-year-old Grainne Murphy of a medal. Rebecca Adlington was nowhere, back in seventh.

1608: Adlington still hasn't hit the afterburner with 150m remaining. Remember, she did say she wasn't too sure about getting a medal here, given her lack of preparation with the Commonwealths ahead. Ireland's Grainne Murphy, on the other hand, is up in third.

From clarke_j on 606: "There's a more competitive field here than the Olympic final."

1604: Adlington et al are under way and the Briton is sat about half a second off the lead, without appearing to break too much sweat so far. France's Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne is in front after 250m.

1601: Here we go, Rebecca Adlington is out and ready for the off in the women's 800m freestyle final. Should take the winner around eight and a half minutes to finish.

From MarktheHorn on 606: "How much should we read into these championships in terms of medal hopefuls? I personally feel we will be more successful in 2012 at swimming than athletics again."

1556: Don't forget, if you want to find out what's coming up throughout the rest of the week (the Euros go on until Sunday), then our day-by-day overview page has all the details.

1553: Rebecca Adlington will be in action in around 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in the morning's heats in Hungary, Stacey Tadd set a new English record of 2:27.99 in the women's 200m breaststroke. Tadd, who will be in the England team at the Commonwealths, goes in the second semi-final of that event a bit later.

From Joanne Jackson on Twitter: "Looking forward to racing tonight in the 4x200m relay. Got some great events coming up tonight for team GB."

From Tiger Rose on 606: "This should be a great session for the Brits. Hopefully Becky Adlington can show she is getting back to her best after last year with a win in the 800m. I think Lizzie Simmonds will definitely win again, there was definitely more in the tank after that semi. There is also the women's 4x200m relay, which looks to be an open event."

What are your predictions? Let us know on 606 or send me a tweet (I'm @BBCSport_Ollie on Twitter, where I'm currently taking suggestions for swimming-TV-movie mash-ups. Face/Spoff, anyone? Tancock's Half Hour? Rogan's Heroes?)

1548: Adlington is far from the only British hope coming up. Hannah Miley and Liam Tancock both have medals to their name this week and are after more in the women's 200m individual medley and men's 50m backstroke respectively, then British backstroke behemoths Lizzie Simmonds and Gemma Spofforth return for the 100m final after their 200m one-two on Tuesday.

1545: The biggest event of this session may well be the first race, the women's 800m freestyle final starring Britain's Rebecca Adlington in her first final appearance of the week. She's up against an incredibly tough field, though, and Adlington - in keeping with other top Britons - has not rested for the Europeans, preferring to focus on the Commonwealths. She has already played down her chances of winning this race.

1542: Day four's live action is almost upon us. You can watch live on BBC Two until 1630 BST, then head on over to the red button or, if you're in the UK, you can also watch all the action on our website, plus we'll have video highlights later. There is also live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra from 1555 BST with British Olympians Steve Parry and Karen Pickering poolside in Budapest.

1538: Hello, everybody. Here we all are again. After three medal-packed days of action for British swimmers, the question is: can it carry on getting better for GB?

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