EYOF: Johnson already making waves on his Turkish trip

From Ben Baker, Sportsbeat, in Trabzon

MATTHEW JOHNSON was the jewel in Team GB's swimming crown, winning two medals as the European Youth Olympic Festival got underway with a splash.

DOUBLE HAUL: Matthew Johnson ended day one of the European Youth Olympic Festival with two medals to show for his efforts

The 16-year-old is hotly tipped to leave Trabzon's Mehmet Asif Swimming Complex with a whole host of medals and showed what he is all about right from the off, claiming 200m medley gold in a personal best time of 2:04.35 minutes.

But he wasn't done there, returning to the water just moments later to help Britain win 4x100m freestyle silver, missing out on gold to Russia by just 0.68 seconds.

The swimming pool was where the medal-winning action was for Great Britain on day one as Johnson was joined on the top step of the podium by Nathan Theodoris, who won 200m backstroke, while Siwan Thomas-Howells claimed 400m freestyle bronze with a new best time of 4:18.61 minutes.

And after getting two tastes of the podium and with five events still to come in the week, Johnson insists his rivals should get used to the sight of him collecting medals sooner rather than later.

"I would have liked to have had two golds from the first day but to come away with a gold and a silver is still good going and a good start to the week," he said.

"I swam a new personal best of 2:05.35 minutes in the medley which is a PB by nearly three seconds so that was great.

"I left it late and the Russian that finished second dug deep and pushed me all the way but I just thought I would swim my own race and not worry about him and it worked out great.

"Swimming that fast straight away gives me confidence for the rest of the week and I am now hoping that these two medals won't be my last of the week.

"I am now full of confidence for the rest of the week and can't wait to get back out there again."

But it wasn't just in the water where Great Britain's fledgling stars strutted their talent, 400m runner Clovis Asong setting a new championship record of 46.74 seconds on the track.

And despite re-writing the record books, the 16-year-old fired a warning shot to those looking to steal his thunder, insisting he is far from done yet.

"It felt easy to be honest," he said. "It didn't feel that fast but it was the fastest I have ever gone by about three hundredths of a second.

"I just ran my own race and had no idea where the other athletes were, kept me head down and did what I had to do.

"In the final I want to go a lot faster over the first 200m and see what happens. I think I can go faster still."

Elsewhere, at Sogutlu Athletics Stadium, Sophie Papps stormed into Tuesday's 100m semi-final thanks to a new personal best time of 11.37 seconds.

Rachel Dickens also made it through to the 400m semi-final, but there was disappointment for Halina Rees, who finished 12^th in her 2000m steeplechase final, while Benedict Westhenry finished eighth in his.

The tennis players were also in action, with Lewis Roskilly the only Brit set to be in action on day two of the singles competition, as Hollie Davies, Sabrina Federici and Joshua Paris all bowed out on Monday's competition.

Lloyds TSB is a Proud Partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Official Supporter of Team GB on their journey to the European Youth Olympic Festival. Visit: www.lloydstsb.com/london2012

 (c) Sportsbeat 2011