Golden moment for Freya Anderson and GB

Anderson was part of the 4 x 100metre mixed medley relay team that stormed to victory in the final race last night at Tollcross.

The quartet of Ellesmere Titan Anderson, Adam Peaty, Georgia Davies and James Guy set a new European record with a stunning performance that left the rest of the pool trailing in their wake, eventually coming home in a time of 3 minutes 40.18 seconds.

It was the fourth medal of the evening for Team GB, with Alys Thomas (200m butterly), Max Litchfield (200 individual medley) and James Wilby (200m breaststroke) claiming two bronze medals and a silver respectively – though there was disappointment for defending champion Ross Murdoch, who was edged off the podium in the breaststroke. Wales’ Davies, who claimed the 50m backstroke title on Sunday, led Britain off in the medley relay, and they were third after Peaty’s phenomenal breaststroke leg.

England’s Guy, a gold medallist in the 4x200m freestyle relay, moved them into the lead, with an advantage of 4.62 seconds for 17-year-old Anderson, who took them home ahead of Russia and Italy.

Olympic, world and Commonwealth gold medallist Peaty, who broke his own 100m breaststroke world record to retain his title on Saturday, said: “The team is maturing. We have a young team coming through and we did a great job.”

Compatriot Anderson, who also won bronze in the 4x200m mixed freestyle relay, added: “I knew I was getting hunted down by a few of the men, but you just try to stick to your own tactics and get the job done.”

Peaty returns to the pool today in the men’s 50m and will compete later in the week in the men’s 4 x 100m medley, and he has his eyes set on defending the titles he won in London two years ago.

“That’s always been on my mind,” he admitted. “It would be nice to defend all my titles, but I’m taking it stroke by stroke, event by event.

“I’ve got to step up on Wednesday and Thursday night; I don’t want to hit too much of a high, I want to stay nice and neutral.”

The preliminary round earlier in the day marked the first time the Uttoxeter swimmer had returned to the pool after his 100m world record had been adjusted by 0.10 seconds, but he was unperturbed by the news.

He said: “The world record still stands and that is all that matters to me. I haven’t broken it by that much but it means next time it becomes a little bit easier to break.

“Mistakes happen in all sports. There is no benefit in being sulky about it or spreading any negativity. A sport like this definitely needs some positivity to show how it’s done.”