TOM Hamer capped a second gold medal at the British Para-swimming International Meet with a place in the GB European Championship squad.

The East Lancashire swimmer retained his S14 200m freestyle title in Sheffield and his winning time of 1.56.99 was half a second under the qualifying standard for the Para-swimming European's in Dublin in August.

The 19-year-old, from Rawtenstall, clocked 1.57.48 in his heat and improved in the evening session on Sunday to beat Paralympic champion Wai Lok Tang by 1.23 seconds.

The former Burnley Bobcat had already triumphed in the 100m freestyle and the teenager revealed he was delighted to record such a strong time given a hectic schedule which included a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April.

"I'm still in heavy training so I'm really surprised and delighted with my time," he said.

"I wanted to get the qualifying time in the morning (heat) so there was no pressure this evening.

"When I touched the wall and I was a second out, there was a bit of panic but I just got back, rested, shaved down and it all paid off.

"I haven't tapered coming into this competition because of the Commonwealths.

"It has been tough mentally and physically, but you can't taper three times in one year so me and my coach opted to swim through the trials so I'm super-happy with what I've done."

Meanwhile, Chorley's Anna Hopkin has earned a place in the British squad for the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow.

The sprint freestyle specialist enjoyed a stellar Commonwealth Games, reaching three finals and winning a medal as part of England's 4x100m freestyle relay squad, is the current British champion over 50m.

The East Lancashire ace is part of a 45-strong squad for the championships which take place between August 3-9.