Bree breaks his own Irish record in final

Andrew Bree has finished eighth in the final of the men's 200 metres Individual Medley at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Belgium. Bree broke his own Irish record set earlier in the day with a time of 1 minute 59.19 seconds in the final, which was won by Slovenia's Peter Munchovic.

As sixth-fastest qualifier for the final, Bree broke Gary O'Toole's eleven-year-old Irish record. His earlier time of 1 minute 59.89 seconds meant that he became the first Irish swimmer to break the two minute barrier in the event.

Speaking after today's final, Bree was satisfied with his performance. "I'm getting there. I was very pleased with my splits. I know that I can improve again on my backstroke splits - it was good to get under Gary's record this morning and it was good to improve on that time (in the final). I'm looking forward to having another few shots at it in the next year or so - I think there is definitely room for improvement," he said.

Earlier today, Lee Kellegher just missed out on making the final of the women's 200 metres Individual Medley. She was classed ninth, having beaten her personal best by two seconds.

Two more Irish swimmers recorded personal bests but failed to reach the final eight. Michael Williamson swam 1 minute 2.66 seconds in the 100 metres breaststroke, while Julie Douglas recorded 56.40 seconds in the 100 metres freestyle.

In an exciting opening day of the championships, two world records were broken and another was equalled. World and Olympic champion Yana Klochkova of Ukraine continued her remarkable run with victory in the women's 200 metres individual medley, while the German men's 4x50 metres individual medley team broke their own world record they had set earlier in the semi-finals. Sweden's Emma Igelstrom also equalled the world record in the women's 50 metres breaststroke.

Despite finishing third in the 50 metres freestyle, Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband remained happy with his performance. The Dutchman was beaten by defending champion Stefan Nystrand of Sweden and Ukraine's Olexandr Volinets. "As you could see, the real (short-course) specialists, like the winner, gain at the start. I know that I can swim the fastest but he (Nystrand) can start and turn the fastest. I want to be able to achieve that," said Van den Hoogenband.

Filed by Greg McKevitt