Evelyn Verraszto and Katinka Hosszu gave Hungary a 1-2 finish in the qualifying heats for the women's 200-meter individual medley Wednesday at the European swimming championships.
Verraszto won in 2 minutes, 11.94 seconds, with Hosszu, the European record holder, 0.36 seconds behind. Camille Muffat of France was third.
Elizabeth Simmonds of Britain swam fastest in the 100 backstroke heats, her time of 1:00.77 beating Daniela Samulski of Germany by 0.28 seconds. Gemma Spofforth of Britain, who took silver behind Simmonds in the 200 backstroke final on Tuesday, was third, 0.51 seconds behind.
Grainne Murphy of Ireland won the qualifier in the 800 freestyle in 8:28.91, 1.02 seconds better than Lotte Friis of Denmark. European record holder Rebecca Adlington of Britain was third, 1.14 seconds behind Murphy.
The 30th edition of European championships is the first major international meet where competitors can no longer wear the neck-to-ankle bodysuits which helped set dozens of world records in recent years.
In the men's events, Daniel Gyurta of Hungary had the fastest qualifying time in the men's 200 breaststroke. His time of 2:10.70 was 1.59 seconds ahead of Laurent Carnol of Luxembourg. Edoardo Giorgetti of Italy was third.
The 50 backstroke heats were won by Guy Barnea of Israel in 25.11 seconds, just 0.06 ahead of Camille Lacourt, who set the first European record of the "textile swimsuit era" in the 100 backstroke on Tuesday. Stefano Mauro Pizzamiglio of Italy was third.
Marcin Cieslak of Poland was first in the 200 butterfly heats, touching in 1:58.23. Dinko Jukic of Austria and Duarte Rafael Mourao of Portugal were next.
Wednesday's finals will be in the men's 200 individual medley and 200 and 1,500 freestyle, and the women's 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle.
