Filip Nowacki, who arrived in Paris as prince of potential in a British breaststroke tradition second to none, joined the class of kings this evening with a 2:07.70 victory that added a debut senior European title to a collection outgrowing its housing.

Get the joiners in, call the carpenters. We're going to need a few adjustments if the way Nowacki won it is anything to go by. Forget the clock - good enough. Think the art of racing.

The 18-year-old held his nerve and stuck to his flexible 'feel-it' race plan as he chased down and overhauled a giant hare to snare another prize to sit along crowns World and European junior from last year and Commonwealth this year as a pioneer for Jersey, his island home no longer thirsting for honours in the pool.

Coached at Millfield School in Somerset by Kieron Piper, Nowacki and his win in Paris will go down as a classic David Vs Goliath of a battle.

Olympic bronze medallist Caspar Corbeau, 25 and 6ft 7, played giant hare to 5ft 8 Nowacki's hound. Make that a British terrier cutting his teeth with every passing race. He held his nerve from go to gold: sixth at the first turn, the same again at half-way, but never too far from the fray to be out of the battle for the crown. 

The critical third lap is where 200m races have often been won - and maybe that was the case this time, too, though not because the champion hurled himself to the helm.

Corbeau, in lane 3, out in the fastest split, drawing Nowacki, in lane 4, with him. They turned ahead of the rest, and still Nowacki did not reach over the giant's shoulder to half-way home. But it was there, just beyond the red buoys at 25m to go that the Dutchman must surely have felt the real danger in David.

Just as Corbeau felt the pace of the only sub-33 third length in the line-up , Nowacki turned tables and threw his own sub-33 card on the table as he surged to victory by 0.18sec. The bronze went to Austria's Luka Mladenovic in 2:08.91, the champion's Britain teammate Greg Butler in fifth just 0.54sec from the podium.

Helpful to have the biggest hare to chase, Filip?

"Oh yeah! Casper's walls are absolutely incredible, so it's almost like I felt myself chasing every 50. He pushed off and all of a sudden I'm like half a body length behind, so I found myself chasing quite a lot. But I just absolutely loved that race, so I look forward to watching it back. It felt great. I think the main thing about a championship race like that is getting your hand on the wall first, and that's the most important.”

Nowacki had just fished out the ninth gold in the 200m breaststroke for Britain since it all began in 1926 to uphold a tradition that includes victories for the Olympic breaststroke champions David Wilkie (200m, 1976), Adrian Moorhouse (100m, 1988), and Nick Gillingham, a World champion and record holder over 200m who claimed the European crown three times (1989-1993), a run that remains a record to this day.

There was Roy Romain back in 1947, and of late, Ross Murdoch in 2016 and James Wilby in 2022. Nowacki is proud to be the next and to have taken Britain two golds clear of the seven won by Germany since 1926. 

“It’s just great to have played my part in that. Really honoured. I had the pleasure in meeting Michael Jameson [200m Olympic silver medallist, 2012) and Ross Murdoch in Glasgow last month, so that's quite special, especially Ross... because he won it in Glasgow [in 2014] - he handed me my medal." Gold medal.

Now he's got another one...

• More on the story In The Times

What Nowacki had to say, on the race, his time at Millfield, his plaudits for coach Kieron Piper and where his win fits in the history file below...