LAUREN Cox won gold for Great Britian competing at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Lublin, Poland.
The Leamington swimmer overturned a deficit of over half a second in the closing stages to take gold in the 100m backstroke event.
Cox pipped Dutch swimmer Maaike de Waard to gold while Germany’s Nina Holt took bronze.
Cox said: “If you’d told me last week I would be European Champion, I would have not believed you.
“I wasn’t holding anything back, I was just trying to control my speed because sometimes I get really excited and slip the water.
“I’ve been working on my back end for the past four years, so I knew it’d be strong finish.
“Normally I dread short course, so I came in with a different mindset for this meet just to see what happens and enjoy it.
“But definitely this is just building my confidence on the world stage, practicing going out in the middle lanes and using it as an experience going forward.”
The 24-year-old won gold in a time of 56.51 seconds just 0.11 seconds ahead of de Waard.
She also finished fourth in the 50m backstroke and seventh in the 4x50m medley relay.
Britain won three gold medals at the European Short Course Swimming Championships to finish third in the medal table.
