Rouault led during the middle of the race but then fell behind Germany's Christian Kubusch until the last of the 16 laps, when he was able to overtake his rival to finish the race in 7 minutes, 48.28 seconds, a new meet record.

Kubusch was 0.84 back in second, but still set a new German record with his effort. Samuel Pizzetti of Italy was third.

Rouault admitted later he had felt a “bit tired” after winning the 1,500 freestyle on Wednesday and finishing fifth in the 400 free on Monday.

French swimmer Alain Bernard won the 100 freestyle, the closest race of the tournament so far. Bernard touched in 48.49 seconds, just 0.03 seconds faster than Evgeny Lagunov of Russia and 0.07 seconds ahead his compatriot William Maynard.

“I was very strained during the heats and the semifinals and surprisingly not at all before this final,” said Bernard, who holds the European record of 47.12 seconds and finished behind Lagunov in the last qualifier. “To win the race you also need a certain luck.” Anastasia Chaun of Russia set a new meet record in the women's 200 breaststroke, finishing in 2:23.50. Sara Nordenstam of Norway trailed by 0.92 seconds and Rikke Moeller-Pedersen of Denmark was third, 1.49 seconds slower than Chaun.

“I had never reckoned with a medal before the European Championships,” said Chaun, who benefited from the absence of teammate and defending champion Yulia Efimova, who is out with a shoulder injury.

In the women's 100 butterfly, world record holder Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden swam the fastest second lap of the race and rallied to win in 57.32 seconds, 0.08 seconds in front of Francesca Halsall of Britain. Another Swede, Therese Alshammar, was third 0.48 seconds behind the winner.

Sjoestroem, who said she was surprised by the result because her season leading up to the Europeans had not gone well, was third at the turn behind Alshammar and Halsall.

It was the third medal of the tournament for the 20-year-old Brit. She also won gold in the 100 freestyle and added a silver in the 4x100 freestyle relay event.

“Maybe I could have done better if I would have been more rested,” Halsall said. “I knew that Therese Alshammar would got out very fast, and my strength is the second lap.

I'm happy that I managed to catch her on the very last meters of the race.” The 30th edition of the European championships is the first major international event where competitors can no longer wear the neck-to-ankle outfits that helped set dozens of world records in recent years.

In the diving pool, the women's 10-meter platform synchronized event was won by Germany, with Christin Steuer and Nora Subschinski scoring 319.68 points. Iulia Prokopchuk and Alina Chaplenko of Ukraine were second with 306.30 and Britain's Monique Gladding and Megan Sylvester finished third with 300.66.

On Saturday, the men will race finals in the 50 breaststroke, 100 butterfly, 200 backstroke and the 4x200 freestyle relay. The women will compete in the 50 backstroke and 200 and 1,500 freestyle finals.