It was only a four-hundredths of a second gap, but it was enough for Karl Burdis to qualify for May’s European Championships in Hungary last night.

Although Olympic qualification was an unlikely prospect during the second night of Irish Long-Course Championship finals, there were other prospects.

Olympic, world and European medallist over both long and short course Federica Pellegrini won the 800m freestyle (8:15.20) with Ireland’s Grainne Murphy continuing what has been a highly successful transition season from junior competition.

Andrew Bree set two new Irish swimming records on the opening day of the European Short-course Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin yesterday.