Italian teenager Sara Curtis breaks 50m backstroke world record at European championships

This time bettered the previous record set by Australia’s Kaylee McKeown by 0.23 seconds. Curtis, 19, had previously won bronze in the women’s 100m freestyle and will compete in the 50m back final. She also holds the short-course European record in the event.

In other events, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom won her sixth European 50m butterfly title, securing her 18th European title overall. Romanian David Popovici claimed his third consecutive European 100m freestyle title with a championship record of 46.56 seconds. Germany’s Johannes Liebmann set a continental record to win the men’s 800m freestyle, while Hungary’s Hubert Kos added the European men’s 200m backstroke gold to his Olympic and world titles.

Britain’s Angharad Evans won her first European title in the women’s 100m breaststroke, and Ireland’s Ellen Walshe secured her first major long-course title in the 400m medley. Marrit Steenbergen earned her second gold of the week and eighth European title in the women’s 4x100m free relay.