The Swede got off to an explosive start at the Aquatics Palace, finding herself more than half a second ahead of the chasing pack by the halfway mark.

The Rio 2016 gold medallist finished in 51.26sec with Poland's Kasia Kasick and Marrit Steenbergen of The Netherlands rounding out the top three.

Greece's Andreas Vazaois defended his title in the men's 200m individual medley final, clocking in at 1min 51.70sec to take gold.

The 27-year-old put himself clear after a blistering middle 100m boasting a 27.05sec backstroke and 32.29sec breaststroke split, and came within a second of his European record of 1:50.85.

Italians Thomas Ceccon and Alberto Razzetti won silver and bronze, respectively.

Russia's 21-year-old phenom Kliment Kolesnikov took his second gold medal in Kazan in the 100m backstroke following success over 50m earlier in the competition.

Kolesnikov was off the pace in the first half but produced a rapid second 50m time to pip Romania's Robert Glinta to the gold medal.

Greek swimmer Apostolous Christou picked up bronze as well breaking his own Greek national record in 49.87.

Teenage sensation Evgeniia Chikunova and Maria Temnikova secured a Russian one-two in the women's 200m breaststroke final with the 16-year-old Chikunova winning in 2:16.88.

Francesca Fangio picked up another medal for Italy as she touched the wall after 2:19.69.

Dutchwoman Kira Toussaint topped the backstroke podium for the second time at the Championships - adding to her 200m title yesterday - after winning the 50m contest ahead of France's Analia Pigree and compatriot Maaike De Waard.

Toussaint will look to win all three backstroke events with the 100m scheduled for tomorrow.