European Aquatics Championships 2014 on BBC & Eurosport

The 2014 LEN European Aquatics Championships takes place in Berlin from August 18-24 and both BBC Sport and British Eurosport will be poolside to bring extensive coverage of all the must-see events.

Staged at Europa-Sportpark in the German capital, the European Championships follows hot on the heels of the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where many British swimmers and divers performed strongly two years out from the next Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The championships already began with the synchronized swimming and open water events in the week prior, but now the focus turns to the pool and the diving boards as the Europe’s finest contest what will be their biggest championships of the year.

Following the British successes in the swimming pool at the Glasgow games, there will be high expectations for the team to see if they can better the four medals, which included two golds, that they claimed the last time the championships were held in 2012.

Commonwealth Games medallist Fran Halsall will be one of Britain’s best hopes in the swimming, with the 24-year-old seeking to add to her four career golds at the event.

Other British hopes in the pool include Ross Murdoch, who unexpectedly beat Scottish compatriot Michael Jamieson to claim gold in the 200m breaststroke in Glasgow, breaking the Games’ record.

Jamieson, along with Hannah Miley, Dan Wallace and an ill Siobhan-Marie O’Connor are among the notable names who will be absent in Germany, but the event will give other British swimmers the chance to shine, including Jazz Carlin, who won gold for Wales in the 800m freestyle, and Adam Peaty, who also enjoyed Commonwealth success.

Peaty securing gold in the 100m breastroke, again with a Games record, and was also part of the medley relay team which claimed top spot on the podium.

In the diving competitions, Tom Daley leads Great Britain’s charge for medals and will go head-to-head with German rival Sascha Klein in the 10m platform competition on Saturday.

Klein is currently ranked third in the world ahead of fifth ranked Daley, who recently won gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and it should prove to be a close battle.

Daley will also face tough competition from Russian diver Victor Minibaev, who claimed an impressive silver medal at the World Championships in 2012.

Also fresh from a successful Commonwealth Games campaign are Jack Laugher, Chris Mears, Alicia Blagg and Rebecca Gallantree, who will also line up for the Brits in their challenge for European titles.

Laugher will return to the springboard events after winning bronze at the World Cup followed by two golds and a silver at the Commonwealth Games.

Seven days of spectacular action in Berlin in both the pool and on the diving boards are expected to unfold and you can follow all the action with the BBC and British Eurosport.

BBC Sport will be screening at least two hours of live free-to-air coverage each day during the 2014 European Swimming Championships.

Every evening session, featuring all the finals, will be broadcast live on BBC Red Button – coverage starting at 5.00pm from Monday to Friday, then at 3.00pm on the weekend – with commentary from Steve Parry and Karen Pickering.

A special two-hour highlights on BBC Two at 11.25am on Monday, August 25, will round up all the key moments from the championships, presented by Helen Skelton and Mark Foster, including highlights of both the swimming and diving competitions.

All TV coverage will be available to watch/listen online via the BBC Sport website and app, while the BBC Two highlights show will be on BBC iPlayer for seven days following transmission.

Viewers with Connected TVs will be able to access BBC online content for the latest news, videos, interviews and highlights from the Championships.

British Eurosport will also be covering the event throughout the week, including live action from every morning and evening session of the swimming, plus action from selected diving finals.

The pan-European channel’s expert commentary team includes James Parrack, who secured a 100m breaststroke silver medal in the 1990 Olympic Games, and multiple Commonwealth Games diving medallist Chris Snode.

Live online streaming of British Eurosport’s coverage can be accessed via Eurosport Player (subscription required), plus there will also be additional reports and features via the British Eurosport website.