Great Britain’s Ben Proud won the men’s 50m freestyle title at the European Aquatics Championships as he completed a stunning golden treble in Rome.<\/span><\/p>\n It is Proud’s third major triumph in two months, following victories at the World Championships in June and the Commonwealth Games earlier in August.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n He is the first man to win those three major titles in the same year.<\/span><\/p>\n Proud, 27, clocked 21.58 seconds to edge Italy’s Leonardo Deplano to gold by just 0.02 in a thrilling race.<\/span><\/p>\n “To be standing here with a third gold medal round my neck, it’s a surreal feeling because the last 12 months have been exceptional,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n “I’m just very, very grateful for everything that has happened this year.”<\/span><\/p>\n Compatriot Imogen Clark won women’s 50m breaststroke bronze in the following race.<\/span><\/p>\n Commonwealth silver medallist Clark finished in 30.31, 0.72 seconds behind Lithuania’s champion Ruta Meilutyte as Italy’s world record holder Benedetta Pilato won silver.<\/span><\/p>\n The 23-year-old Briton, who was told to stop swimming at a young age because of her epilepsy, tested positive for Covid and had to isolate in her room in Rome until Monday. <\/span><\/p>\n “It’s amazing. I never dreamed of doing this. It is an incredible way to finish the season,” said Clark.<\/span><\/p>\n In the women’s 200m butterfly final, Laura Stephens finished fourth and Keanna Macinnes placed sixth as Bosnian Lana Pudar won gold. <\/span><\/p>\n GB’s men’s 4x100m medley quartet of Luke Greenbank, James Wilby, Edward Mildred and Tom Dean placed fourth in a race dominated by hosts Italy, while Medi Harris, Kara Hanlon, Keanna Macinnes and Freya Anderson were fifth in the women’s final, won by Sweden. <\/span><\/p>\n Great Britain finished the Championships third in the swimming medal table, with four golds, five silvers and six bronzes.<\/span><\/p>\n Proud has won every major title available to him since his disappointment at finishing fifth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics last summer – taking both the world short and long-course titles, in addition to his successes in Birmingham and Rome in the space of two weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n His 50m freestyle gold in Birmingham was his third successive Commonwealth title in the event, while he also won the 50m butterfly at the Games.<\/span><\/p>\n Winner of European gold in 2018 and silver in 2021, Proud had qualified fastest for the final in Rome in a time of 21.40 seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n Though he could not go as quick in the final, he came out on top in a close finish with Deplano, as Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev took the bronze.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking following his semi-final win on Tuesday, Proud said his form this year had come from swimming “for the love of it”.<\/span><\/p>\n He told BBC Sport: “I think I have just been true to myself. Swimming is a love-hate sport. There have been times in my career where there has been more hate than love and I said to myself, if I am going to continue swimming, I need to love it. <\/span><\/p>\n “I’m doing what I want to do, how I want to do it, getting the right people around me and doing it for the love of it,” he added.<\/span><\/p>\n “For me this is my passion, I do it because I love it and the results are showing, so it’s good.”<\/span><\/p>\n He reiterated that following the final, and said on attempting to end his wait for Olympic glory in Paris: “So long as I love the sport I will keep swimming but I won’t hold myself to too high a standard, because that really threw me under the bus last year – trying to get something that wasn’t mine.”<\/span><\/p>\nPassion powering Proud to golds<\/h3>\n
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