Smith storms to gold on day one

 

The first day of the LEN European Junior Swimming Championships saw the British Junior Swimming Team, powered by British Gas, stand on the podium in Helsinki four times as they raced to one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

Sophie Smith got the team off to an excellent start as she took Britain’s first gold of the Championships swimming to the Girl’s 400m Individual Medley title.

The City of Leicester swimmer turned in third after the first 100m but was leading from the front by the second half of the race.

Smith maintained her dominance and paced the race well to touch the wall in a British Age Group Record of 4:44.46 taking gold ahead of Spain’s Beatriz Gomez Cortes (4:44.87) and Italy’s Alessia Polieri (4:46.71).

"I felt confident going into the last 100 metres and knew I could pull out a sprint finish,” said Smith. “I'm really happy and mum's just sent me a text to say it's a British Age Group Record!

"I've still got the shorter medley in which I'm seeded for a medal plus the relays. I'm just happy and looking forward to the next few days"