Zaitsev finished 21st overall in the preliminary round of the men's 50 meters butterfly, with a time of 23.82 seconds, meaning the Estonian missed out on a semi-final place by just 0.02 seconds.

After the race, Zaitsev, who started the championships with high hopes of making the final, said,  "Confidence was high, everything was super good in the warm-up, it was a good feeling. There were still thoughts about (making) the final, but I didn't expect this result."

In the same event, Ahtiainen finished 43rd with a time of 24.41 seconds. Nyls Korstanje of the Netherlands was fastest in the preliminaries, reaching the semi-finals with a time of 22.90 seconds.

In the women's 200m backstroke, Estonia's Aleksa Gold swam 2 minutes 15.74 seconds, which was only enough to finish 24th in the preliminary round, meaning she also missed out on a semi-final place. Italy's Margherita Panziera was the fastest qualifier, swimming 2 minutes 9.27 seconds.

Daniel Zaitsev and Aleks Ahtiainen are in action again on Friday morning in the preliminary round of the men's 100 meters freestyle, while fellow Estonian Maria Romanjuk takes part in the women's 100m breaststroke.

Estonia is also involved in the 4x100 meters mixed medley event, with the preliminary rounds also set to take place on Friday morning.

You can follow the action on Friday morning from the European Aquatics Championships in Rome live on ETV2 here.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!