The British Gas women’s 4x200m Freestyle relay team secured the bronze medal after knocking another four seconds off the European record they set in the heats at the FINA World Championships in Rome.

The final relay team, which featured Jo Jackson, Jazmin Carlin, Caitlin McClatchey and Rebecca Adlington, showed their strength as they performed impressively to take the bronze medal.

The Chinese and American team took the race out quickly from the start and Jackson swam a good leg and handed the race over to Carlin in a time of 1:55.98.

Eighteen-year-old Carlin, who swam the fastest time of the team in the heats, showed her potential again in the final as she swam to a time of 1:56.78 and put the team into second place.

The third leg saw McClatchey come up against World 200m Individual Medley champion Ariana Kukors and she put in a new personal best time of 1:56.42.

Double Olympic champion Adlington took the anchor leg for the team. The Chinese and American teams were turning within the world record and Adlington kept her stroke rate high to ensure she was close to them.

Adlingtom fought off Federica Pellegrini’s challenge and sealed the bronze medal and the new European record after touching in a time of 7:45.51.

“I'm pleased for the whole team,” Jackson said. “That was a great effort from everyone. I knew it was going to be tough getting a medal but we all swam our hearts out and it’s a big improvement for us on last year.

Carlin added: “It’s my first major meet and I'm just so happy to be part of this team. I've looked up to these girls for a long time and now I'm competing with them and winning medals. It’s amazing.”

Adlington commented: “It’s hard anchoring the relay with Pelligrini coming back at you and the crowd screaming. I thought it would be close and I'm so proud of the girls for getting us to the end and on to the podium.”

The Chinese team took two seconds off the world record with a time of 7:42.08 as they secured gold ahead of the American team. Silver was won by the Americans in 7:42.56.