DARREN MEW moved British sprint breaststroking into new territory to claim a European bronze medal in one of the fastest 50m breaststroke events ever swum.

Mew, 22, from the Isle of Wight, became the first Briton to go under 27 seconds as he set a new British record of 26.85sec in the European short course championships in Antwerp.

It was the fourth time in two hours that the old British record had been equalled or beaten by two men who had earlier trade records in the 100m.

The other Briton in the final, Loughborough University's James Gibson, followed Mew into the sub-27sec territory, finishing fourth in 26.98.

Earlier, Gibson had equalled Mew's old record of 27.21 in the first semi-final, only to see the Totland Bay man lower it to 27.13 in the second one.

The final was won by the Ukraine's Oleg Lisogor in 26.71, just 0.01sec outside the world record, held by Germany's Marc Warnecke, who took the silver.

The result made up for Bath University-based Mew's disappointment in the 100m breaststroke 24 hours earlier, when he had to settle for fourth place while Gibson took the silver and his British record.

Both men were under the old record in both the semi-final and final, Gibson lowering it to 59.02sec at the earlier stage.

Mew, who recorded 59.38 in the semi and 59.59 in the final, said: "I was disappointed after the 100 as I not only missed out on a medal but lost my British record.

"But I talked to my coach and to Mark Foster, and they picked up some positive points and reminded me that I am really targeting the Commonwealth Games not this meet.

"I have been training really hard since the summer and I have only half-rested for Antwerp so all things considered I've had a very good meet."

Britain's tough-talking national performance director Bill Sweetenham, however, saw the 50m final as an opportunity lost rather than a medal and a British record gained.

"Mew and Gibson let an opportunity slip that was in their fingers," he said. They had the best starts, the early speed, the turns.

"The world record was theirs for the taking but they panicked at the back end."

In his least favourite event, the 200m breaststroke, Mew finished 16th in 2min 14.16sec.

The south's only other competitor, Ringwood 17-year-old Holly Fox, had a disappointing set of results in her first international since following her coach from Reading to the City of Glasgow in September.

The former European junior champion finished 16th in her best event, the 400m medley, 22nd in 200m medley and 27th in the 100m medley.