Great Britain's mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team have claimed that their "chemistry" is behind the success they have enjoyed at the European Games so far.
A team of Duncan Scott, Martyn Walton, Darcy Deakin and Georgia Coates picked up a silver medal at the Baku Aquatics Centre this evening, following gold for the men's team and bronze for the women's yesterday.
Their medal was the seventh that Team GB have picked up in the pool after just two days of swimming action in Baku, already making it their most successful sport at the Games.
After picking up their medals, the quartet spoke to Sports Mole about their performance, the reasons behind their medal haul and whether or not winning as part of a team is more satisfying than doing it alone.
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Congratulations on another relay medal, how does this silver feel?
Walton: "Pretty good, I'd say. Mixed relay is always an interesting one. Tactics have always got a big part to play in it - two girls, two boys - so yeah, it's always a fun one to swim in and I think we did really well tonight. It was a great performance."
Do the tactics differ a lot from a normal men's relay or women's relay race?
Walton: "Yeah, it's a different kind of atmosphere in the pool room, I think."
Scott: "There are obviously two of each so I think that not every team puts two boys first, which you'd think is the norm to get out in front. Germany for example had a boy going last, which almost came through, but Georgia hung on really well there.
"So yeah, tactics are huge and it paid off for us today - putting two boys up front and then letting the girls hang on, which they did really well."
Did you expect silver going into the race?
Walton: "To be honest, with most relays we just go in it and try to enjoy ourselves. We seem to be coming away with medals so we're going to keep doing that I think. I think that's the best way to work it. So yeah, just a great race."
With the men winning gold and the women getting bronze yesterday, you were always going to come away with another medal today, weren't you?
Walton: "Yeah, it's kind of an average of the two, if that makes sense? I think that's a good way of describing it! We're pretty happy with the performance today and it's a nice bonding experience."
And as far as the relay teams are concerned, is it nice to complete the set of medals?
Scott: "I'm not wanting to get a bronze, no. I'd rather stay silver and gold preferably. I'm happy with that. I think, especially for the four of us, there's definitely more medals to come. GB's had another good day, a solid day. I wouldn't say it was incredible.
"We had a couple of fourths which is always disappointing, fourths and fifths, which was just by 0.01s, 0.02s. I think we need to pick up our game tomorrow, attack those golds, silvers and bronzes, get on the medal table and try to hit Russia again."
Duncan, you said yesterday's men's gold was unexpected. What do you think is behind this British relay success?
Walton: "Having fun. Going in there with no expectations - not no expectations, but you've got to be up for it. You've got to race the race and wherever you come, as long as you try your hardest, that's all that matters I think."
Scott: "I don't know if you play FIFA 'Ultimate Team', but do you know how you've got good chemistry between players and your team does better? I think that's the case for British relay swimmers.
"Because we all know each other really well, we obviously compete against each other quite a lot, we obviously are quite good friends, all of us in the camp. So I think no matter what team we're in, boys or girls, boys or girls individually, we just come out on top. We love racing with each other and against each other."
Was there more or less pressure on the team today after yesterday's relay medals?
Deakin: "There's always the pressure every day throughout, because you want to perform not only for yourself but you want to help your team get better.
"I guess after yesterday - three golds and a bronze - it was always going to be a hard task to follow up but I think we've done [our] best, and there were obviously more semis tonight so we've got more people through to finals for tomorrow. I think all in all, we've done pretty well."
Darcy and Georgia, you both got bronze yesterday and silver today. It's heading the right way for gold...
Coates: "After yesterday, we just wanted to come in here and a medal was something that we'd love to have. After yesterday, knowing what it felt like, we really wanted to do it."
Is it more satisfying to win as part of a team or individually?
Walton: "It's always a tough one, that."
Scott: "An individual medal means more, as a thing, as in you've won it yourself. This, going up there on the podium and knowing that you together, as a unit, have performed well, all stepped up, swam for each other, is another thing.
"That's just beyond it I think. I love competing as a relay team - it makes me swim a lot faster than I do individually, so I love it. I think it's great."
Walton: "Just outside of swimming performance, you make some great mates in relays, whether you like it or not. It's just the way it is - you just get on with them."
Scott: "Apart from Martyn."
Deakin: "When you're swimming individually, the only person you're putting pressure on is you but like today, we've changed the entire lineup so that means eight of us are getting a medal. I guess that means more than just going for the medal yourself."
