Swimming: Simmonds misses out

Simmonds: Pleased

Teenager Lizzie Simmonds twice lowered the British record on the way to finishing fifth in the European Short-Course Championships in Croatia.

The 17-year-old clocked 27.17 in the semi-finals, which saw team-mate Georgia Davies bow out, and then bettered that time in the final.

Sanja Jovanovic broke the world record in taking gold in 26.23 with Simmonds dipping under 27 seconds for the first time, touching in 26.88 but out of the medals.

"It's always great to be in a race with a world record.," she said. "It just shows you the way swimming is moving forward which is always a great thing.

"It's absolutely fantastic to be in a race like that. It's been really good. Everyone has come here in the middle of training with no real expectations.

"Just to have a good race and get in there and have a go. Everyone has just really enjoyed being here.

"I've enjoyed it, I've not really been nervous and it showed in my races, it's been relaxed, it's been controlled.

"I've swum really well, I'm really pleased."

Nikolay Skvortsov had set the 99th world mark of the year in a 200m butterfly race which saw Michael Rock miss a medal by just 0.01secs, before Amaury Leveaux became the first man to break the 45-second barrier in the 100m freestyle.

Rock was in the medal positions throughout the race and was in second place with 25m left, but was overtaken in the closing stages and had to settle for the consolation of bettering his personal best by more than a second.

Marco Loughran qualified seventh fastest for Sunday's 100m backstroke final after smashing his PB for the second time in a day in 51.87. Todd Cooper, though, failed to progress.

James Goddard has a chance to pick up his second medal of the event after qualifying second fastest for the 100m individual medley final.

The 200m IM champion smashed his personal best for the second time in a day in the semis when he came back from being only fifth at the halfway point to touch first in 52.68.

James Gibson failed to qualify for the final of the 50m breaststroke - the event in which he was world long-course champion - after finishing 10th.

Jemma Lowe, sixth in the 100m butterfly in Beijing, had been second fastest through to the semis and she made the final in the short-course event in sixth position in 57.44.