Adam Peaty, Francesca Halsall, Chris Walker Hebborn and Jemma Lowe (left to right) have now had their world record ratified from the 2014 European Championships following an appeal to CAS ©Getty Images

Two world records set by British swimmers at the 2014 European Championships in Berlin have been belatedly ratified in a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after a succession of errors by the swimming authorities.

Adam Peaty set a then record mark of 26.62sec in the 50 metres breaststroke en route to winning gold in the German capital before teaming up with Chris Walker-Hebborn, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and Fran Halsall.

They clocked a record 3min 44.02sec in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.

The swimmers were drugs tested following their races but the laboratory conducting analysis of all samples from the Championships was not instructed to test for blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO).

This meant the performances were ineligible for world records.

By the time the International Swimming Federation (FINA) and the European Swimming Federation (LEN) looked into the mistake, samples at the Cologne laboratory had been destroyed.

Because all the swimmers concerned had recorded multiple negative tests in the same year, medical authorites suggested the records could be ratified.

FINA opted against this, however.

They told British Swimming on August 9 last year neither world record would stand “due to an error made by a third party in relation to the doping samples given by the athletes at the time of the records”.

Britain's Adam Peaty set another world record time en route to gold at last year's World Championships in Kazan ©Getty Images
Britain's Adam Peaty set another world record time en route to gold at last year's World Championships in Kazan ©Getty Images

A successful appeal was thus made to CAS in Lausanne, who said in a statement today that "testing for EPO was conducted only on a selection of the samples provided throughout the Championships".

This suggests the failure to test for EPO on all samples was due to more than a simple administrative error in not ticking a box, as was first suggested.

The ruling is largely symbolic, however, because both Peaty and the British relay teams have each since set even faster world records.

Peaty swam 26.42 in the sem-final en route to winning 50m breaststroke gold at last year's World Championships in Kazan and Walker-Hebborn, Peaty, O’Connor and Halsall lowered the mixed medley global standard to 3:41.71 in the Russian city.

"In granting British Swimming’s appeal and setting aside the decision of FINA, CAS also determined that the times set by the athletes should be reflected within the record books as world records at that time," British Swimming said in a statement today.

"CAS also determined that costs for the case should be borne by FINA."

FINA has received criticism for its anti-doping policies in the past, particularly after China’s double London 2012 Olympic champion Sun Yang was handed a “secret” three month ban in 2014 when he tested positive for trimetazidine.