Cseh clocked 1 min 49.00sec to break the previous European record of 1:49.46, held by Russia’s Nikolay Skvortsov since 2009. 

Improving his lifetime best by almost two seconds, the new mark added to that which he set in the men’s 200m individual medley on Friday (December 4) and increased his gold medal tally to three having also won the men’s 100m butterfly.

Viktor Bromer of Denmark was 2.62 seconds off the pace in the silver medal position, while Sweden’s Simon Sjoedin was a further 1.27 seconds behind in in bronze.

Cseh's was the 11th gold won by Hungary, leaving them comfortably at the top of the overall medals table with a total of 15, including three silver and a bronze.

In second spot was Italy, who actually won more medals overall, finishing on 17, seven gold, five silver and five bronze.

Third were Germany with seven medals, including four gold, and fourth were Russia with 17, three of them gold.  

In the first men’s final of the day, Italy’s Marco Orsi posted a time of 46.05sec to claim top honours in the 100m freestyle ahead of Belgium’s Pieter Timmers and Poland’s Sebastian Szczepanski, second and third respectively.

Russia’s Sergei Fesikov touched home in 52.00 to take the men’s 100m individual medley title with Israel’s Yakov Yan Toumarkin winning the silver and Greece’s Andreas Vazaios rounding off the podium.

There was also success on the men’s side for Poland’s Tomasz Polewka, who registered a time of 22.96 in the 50m backstroke to fend off nearest challenger Christoph Walker-Hebborn of Great Britain and Italy’s Simone Sabbioni.

Sabbioni went on to help his country claim the men’s 4x50m medley crown, setting a Championship record time of 1:31.71 alongside compatriots Fabio Scozzoli, Matteo Rivolta and Orsi with Russia and Belarus following.

Another Championship record was set in women’s competition as Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem finished the 100m butterfly in 55.03, condemning Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen to second spot with Germany’s Alexandra Wenk in third.

Sjoestroem and Ottesen both fell a place on the women’s 50m freestyle podium though, as The Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo led the way with a time of 23.56.

Competing alongside Dutch team-mates Tessa Vermeulen, Moniek Nijhuis and Inge Dekker, Kromowidjojo also took home gold from the women’s 4x50m medley with a time of 1:44.85 proving too good for silver medallists Sweden and third-placed Italy.

The two other gold medals awarded on the day were won by Belgium’s Fanny Lecluyse in the women’s 200m breaststroke and Britain’s Jazmin Carlin in the women’s 400m freestyle

Lecluyse’s time of 2:18.49 saw her edge out Russia’s Maria Astashkina and Turkey’s Viktoria Zeynep Gunes, while Carlin’s 3:58.81 earned her top spot ahead of Hungarian duo Katinka Hosszú and Boglarka Kapas.


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