Thursday 18 December 2014 14:16, UK
Andrew Willis and Michael Jamieson gave rise to hopes of two British men sharing a World Championship podium for only the second time with inspired displays on Thursday.
The pair qualified for Friday night's 200m breaststroke final in third and fifth respectively in Barcelona, while Craig McNally also forced his way into the reckoning in the 200m backstroke, meaning there will be three British finalists on Friday.
The last time two British men finished in the top three in a world final was in Cali in 1975, when David Wilkie and David Leigh were first and third in the 100m breaststroke.
I started out terribly but I quite often have that and that disappointment spurs me on.
But it was always going to be a tall order for Georgia Davies and Lauren Quigley in the women's 50 metres backstroke final, with the former the happier after finishing sixth and equalling her personal best and Welsh record of 27.96 seconds, while Quigley finished eighth.
The Swansea ITC swimmer did not advance from the 100m heats earlier in the week and she said: "I started out terribly but I quite often have that and that disappointment spurs me on.
"I would have liked to get a PB and sneak the British record."
Stockport swimmer Quigley was not satisfied with her time of 28.33secs despite making a world final on her senior international long-course debut.
The 18-year-old said: "I'm happy with making the final and getting this far but the time I'm not happy with. Today was not a good day for me."
Willis and Jamieson are team-mates at Bath ITC under coach Dave McNulty and the pair were in the same semi-final which Willis, the English record holder, won in two minutes 09.11 seconds - third fastest overall with two-time champion and Olympic gold medallist Daniel Gyurta impressive at the head of the field.
Willis said: "That felt good. It was nice and controlled. I've done what I need to do to make the final tomorrow night and it's anyone's game. I'll need to improve on that time tonight but I'm feeling fairly confident."
McNally became the third Briton through when he was seventh into the 200m backstroke final in 1:56.97, although Chris Walker-Hebborn was 13th.
Elsewhere, Rikke Moeller Pedersen became the third swimmer to break a world record at these championships when she lowered the 200m breaststroke mark to 2:19.11.
Missy Franklin won her fourth gold and Katie Ledecky her third as part of the victorious United States 4x200m freestyle relay ahead of Australia and France.
James Magnussen won the 100m freestyle while Ryan Lochte defended his 200m individual medley title.
