Great Britain's men's 4x200m relay team have said that they believe the battle with Russia in the pool will go down to the final day of competition at the European Games.
On a productive third day of action at the Baku Aquatics Centre, Team GB collected another six medals - one gold, two silvers and three bronzes - to take their total haul so far to 13, second in the swimming table only to Russia's tally of 22 medals.
The penultimate event of the evening session, the men's 4x200m freestyle relay, saw another close race between the two nations but ultimately the Britons had to settle for second space on the podium after finishing 3.28s off the pace.
Sports Mole caught up with GB's four-man team - Duncan Scott, Martyn Walton, Kyle Chisolm and Cameron Kurle - to reflect on the day's achievements and discuss the Russian rivalry.
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You're silver medallists, are you happy with that?
Kurle: "Yeah, we're happy with that. We thought maybe we could get the gold but the Russians were better than us today."
It is a bit of an ongoing battle with the Russians at the moment. What's that rivalry like?
Kurle: "Yeah, it's pretty intense. We [beat] them in the 4x100m which we were pretty pleased about. We were underdogs for that. In the 4x200m they were better than us today."
Do you think you can keep challenging them throughout the week?
Kurle: "Yeah, definitely. We've got the 200m heats tomorrow, so hopefully all four of us can step up and do big times, and then two of us can go through then challenge for the gold and silver."
Martyn, you won bronze in the 200m individual medley earlier and it was quite a quick turnaround after that for the relay. Was that hard for you to do?
Walton: "I've done it before. I wasn't overly happy with my split in that 200m race. But wherever I fail, I've got a quote I think about which is 'success is failure turned inside out'. So I just use the failures to kind of boost myself forward and push myself on to the next level."
So a bronze and a silver - it's been a very successful day for you.
Walton: "Yeah, it was. I'm happy with today obviously but sometimes I expect a little better from myself. I don't think that's a bad thing, I think it's a good thing. It's my last year as a junior so that's kind of the attitude I need to have going into next year."
Duncan, you won gold earlier in the 100m freestyle. What are your thoughts on that performance?
Scott: "Obviously delighted with the medal. I was 0.3s or so off my best, so obviously slightly disappointed I wasn't close to my PB but yeah, delighted with the win. Helping the GB swimmers in the medal table against Russia, it's going to be a battle 'til the end. We've had another solid day, GB, so we just need to attack tomorrow in the same way."
You're also now the most decorated Briton in European Games history. That's a nice title to have.
Scott: "I suppose it is the first European Games though!"
Walton: "You're the Michael Phelps of the European Games, mate!"
Scott: "As it's the first European Games, we'll see what happens."
Walton: "It's not even over yet."
And you're just behind him at the moment, Martyn...
Walton: "Oh well, I'm not here to be the most decorated. I'm just here to do the job for the team at the end of the day. I never try to take myself too seriously. It's obviously a bonus getting a load of medals here, but I'm happy with my performances."
Barney Corkhill
