Live - European Swimming Ch'ships

Live swimming - European Championships

LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times BST)

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By Ollie Williams

Monique Gladding, 10m synchro diving bronze medallist: "I'm so happy to get that medal after what has been a really tough year for both of us. It's great to turn the corner and show what we can do when we're fit. I had hip surgery this time last year and the recovery from that is a long process but I feel like I'm well on the way and results like this really help."

1648: It's swimming on fast-forward. There is literally no time to draw breath from that madcap 100m free final, because we're already into the women's 50m backstroke semis. No Lizzie Simmonds or Gemma Spofforth in this - they were given the option but didn't feel they had the speed or inclination, given the other demands on their time, such as winning every other medal on offer.

1645: And Alain Bernard duly delivers for France by the most ridiculously slim of margins, with about five swimmers plunging for the wall at the same time. What a race that was. I take it back, practically the whole field touched at once. The first five were separated by two tenths of a second. Madness.

1643: Next up is the men's 100m freestyle final. No British representation here, so France could nip a little further ahead in the medal standings if Alain Bernard can take gold from lane five.

1641: Stacey Tadd was always going to struggle in this final and finds herself well back early on, finishing seventh as Russia's Anastasia Chaun surges back on the final leg to beat Denmark's Rikke Moeller Pedersen to gold in a time of 2:23.50, a new championship record.

1637: Britain's Stacey Tadd is about to go in the women's 200m breaststroke final.

1633: Who knows if that vogue move will make a return? Here's the expert view of Karen Pickering on what we can expect from Fran Halsall in the women's 100m fly final, coming up shortly:

"The biggest competition is going to come from the two Swedes, 16-year-old Sarah Sjoestroem and 32-year-old Therese Alshammar. That shows the difference and variety you can have in swimming, it's impressive to see Therese still swimming. But Fran can get into the mix."

From axbell on Twitter: "I miss Fran Halsall doing the vogue move at the end of her races, like she did in the Manchester meet."

Antony James, through to the 100m fly final: "I'm pleased with that. My 50m fly was a bit rusty but I got it back in the 100m today. These guys have all got a few years on me, the way I see it I've got six more years in me than they have. I'm looking to go into that final and gain some experience for 2012."

1628: Antony James gets fourth place in his semi, and makes it into the men's 100m fly final, a very strong swim. That'll see him into his first European senior final on Saturday.

Jo Jackson, who misses the 200m freestyle final: "It's a bit like coming fourth, it's a rubbish place to be. I gave 100% and if that's all I've got then it's good enough. I've learnt a lot this week, I'm looking forward to the Commonwealths now."

Jaz Carlin: "I'm more of a 400m/800m swimmer so it was always hard. When I saw all the other girls so far ahead I panicked a bit and rushed my stroke."

1624: Russia's Evegny Korotyshkin wins the first men's 100m fly semi-final. Britain's Antony James is about to go in the second race.

1623: British open-water star Keri-Anne Payne is alongside us. Any questions for her about the success of the British women this week, or her own ambitions for the Commonwealths and beyond? Get in touch on 606 or send a tweet and I'll get you an answer.

1620: Jaz Carlin doesn't get the best of starts and finds herself playing catch-up throughout her women's 200m freestyle semi. World record-holder Federica Pellegrini wins the semi in 1:56.53, but neither Carlin nor Jo Jackson, who finishes ninth overall, will make the final. A disappointing race for Britain.

1617: By the way, we have a special guest here for this session. More details after this race.

1616: The target time set by Camille Muffat of France, in the opening women's 200m freestyle semi, is 1:57.97. Here come Carlin and Jackson, who between them have kept Hannah Miley out of these semi-finals as GB are not allowed more than two entrants.

From Tiger Rose on 606: "The biggest challenge for British Swimming is to get the men to start stepping up. Results at European Juniors suggest that this isn't going to change anytime soon.

"The Commonwealths should be interesting as the Aussies are also much stronger on the women's side. Highlights for me will be the 100m back with Lizzie, Gemma & Emily Seebohm and the 400IM Hannah Miley vs Olympic Champ Stephanie Rice."

1613: Jo Jackson and Jaz Carlin are coming up shortly, in the second of the women's 200m freestyle semi-finals. "It wasn't a great swim for me but I've made it through to the semi, which is the main thing," said Jackson after her heat earlier. "Hopefully I can pick it up a bit and go quite a bit quicker tonight."

1610: A thriller of a men's 800m freestyle final is won by Sebastien Rouault of France, who pulls his country a little further ahead of Britain at the top of the medal table with a new championship record. He was just ahead of Germany's Christian Kubusch, who led for most of the race.

1608: With 200m to go in the men's 800m freestyle final, Germany's Christian Kubusch is just ahead of France's Sebastian Rouault.

1606: By the way, within the last hour Britain's Monique Gladding and Megan Sylvester have won bronze in the women's 10m synchro platform dive in Budapest, which is an excellent result by British women's diving's standards.

"It's great to be the only GB ladies to get on that podium for a lot of years," Sylvester told BBC Radio 5 live sports extra.

1602: First up it's the men's 800m freestyle final. Two Hungarians go in front of their home crowd, Gergo Kis and Gergely Gyurta, but Sebastien Rouault of France will be in contention for gold, and Pal Joensen - who won the Faroe Islands' first major competitive swimming medal earlier this week - is back in action.

1559: Ok, we're almost ready to go. If you live in the UK you have a choice of live video coverage online or on the red button starting imminently, or commentary from BBC Radio 5 live sports extra which is already on air. If you live elsewhere, you have me, and I'm primed for two more hours of live swimming.

From Rebecca Adlington on Twitter: "Tonight should be interesting. Apparently there is a storm coming our way in an hour's time! Not fun when you swim outdoor!"

From teassoc on 606: "It says something about the very high standards we are now expecting from this GB team, that some of us are expressing some disappointments. Even unrested GB are going to have the best meet results by far. Makes you wonder how they would have fared if this had been the main meet of the year."

1553: Other events to watch out for are the women's 200m freestyle semi-finals - GB's Jaz Carlin and Jo Jackson are in the second race - and the men's 100m fly semis, where GB's Antony James qualified fifth-fastest from the earlier heats. As ever, our day-by-day guide has more info on what to expect from the rest of the session and the weekend's action, too.

1551: Ever get the feeling you're being watched? I've had a message from Twitter to tell me Fran Halsall is now following my tweets. Best behaviour for me on Twitter, then. However, chances are she's probably not reading this (if she is, about an hour out from her final, then that's concerning in itself).

So quick, while she's not looking: what are the big issues coming out of this week's swimming in Budapest? What do you make of GB's performances so far, and can we learn much for the Commonwealths and beyond, regardless of how rested or otherwise the team are? Let me know your thoughts on 606 or send me a tweet (I'm @BBCSport_Ollie on Twitter).

From Fran Halsall on Twitter: "100m fly final tonight! Hopefully I can pull a good one out of the bag!"

1544: Well, the bad news for British fans is there can only be two more GB medals in this session (which starts at 1600 BST) at an absolute maximum. Two of the four finals have British representation: Stacey Tadd in the 200m breaststroke, and Fran Halsall in the 100m fly. Tadd is a real outsider for a medal, whereas Halsall will be keen to reach the podium at least.

1541: Look at you, bounding back over here in fervent expectation of more British swimming medals on day five of the European Championships in Hungary. Twelve so far and it's just not enough for you, is it? Greed, that's what it is. Greed.

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