European Swimming Championships 2010
Venue: Budapest Dates: 4-15 August
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC Red Button and BBC Sport website (UK users only); listen on BBC 5 live sports extra, updates on BBC Radio 5 live Full details GB's Halsall wins 100m butterfly silver Fran Halsall added a silver medal in the 100m butterfly to her gold in the 100m freestyle at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest. Halsall was second behind Swedish 16-year-old Sarah Sjoestroem in a British record 57.40 seconds, with another Swede, Therese Alshammar, in third. "I wanted the gold very much but I've got to be happy," said Halsall, 20. Earlier, British duo Megan Sylvester and Monique Gladding won bronze in the 10m synchro platform diving event. They scored 300.66 points to finish behind pairs from Germany and Ukraine. Christin Steuer and Nora Subschinski won gold, while Iulia Prokopchuk and Alina Chaplenko took the silver medal.  | 606: DEBATE |
It was Britain's first diving medal of the championships, with world champion Tom Daley set to defend his European 10m platform title on Sunday. The swimming team, by contrast, have now picked up 13 medals in the pool, of which Halsall has one gold and two silvers to her name. "It was a personal best and a really good swim," she told BBC Radio 5 live sports extra. "Losing by eight hundredths of a second - I'll feel that for the next year's training, that'll be a lot of motivation. Just missing the gold is annoying.
"It's still been a great meet for me and good preparation for the Commonwealth Games. "I now know what it's like to get medals then come down and prepare properly the next day, it's good preparation for that." Halsall targets more medals after silver British swimmers have travelled to Hungary without being fully rested for the Europeans, as they are focusing on October's Commonwealth Games, which form the meet on which they will be judged against funding body UK Sport's targets. While some members of the team, such as Rebecca Adlington, have appeared to struggle at the Europeans as a result, Halsall has coped well despite her lack of preparation. "Fran is a brilliant competitor, she'll be happy once she sees the race and sees the Swedish girl nearly lost it rather than Fran nearly winning it," said her coach, Ben Titley. "It's good for the British team to be hungry after not winning but performing well." In what was otherwise a quiet session for Britain with just five of GB's swimmers competing, Stacey Tadd finished seventh in the women's 200m breaststroke final, won by Russia's Anastasia Chaun. Antony James progressed in the men's 100m fly, placing fourth in his semi-final, but played down any prospect of challenging for honours in Saturday's final. "I'm looking to go into that final and gain some experience for 2012," said James, 20. "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." However, there was disappointment for British duo Jazmin Carlin and Jo Jackson, who both missed out on a place in the final of the women's 200m freestyle having been off the pace in the semi-finals. "I gave 100% and if that's all I've got then it's good enough," said Jackson, who finished ninth, one place away from reaching the final. "I've learnt a lot this week, I'm looking forward to the Commonwealths now." France have pulled two gold medals clear of Britain in the European medal table after Friday's racing, with wins for Alain Bernard in the men's 100m freestyle and Sebastien Rouault over the 800m distance. Sylvester and Gladding win diving bronze Divers Sylvester and Gladding won silver at the Fort Lauderdale Grand Prix last year, but the result in Hungary represents their first European medal. "I'm so happy to get that medal after what has been a really tough year for both of us," said Gladding, 29. "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." Meanwhile, 16-year-old Sylvester will now head to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore on Monday on a high. "We've not done a lot training this year because of Monique's hip and the fact I've grown four inches which means we've had to start over with how I approach the dives," said Sylvester. "It changes how quickly you spin, when you take off and in this event to come through all that for a medal is great. "We had a solid list of dives and held it together before saving the best until last for the medal." Brilliant Bernard retains 100m gold
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