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Thursday, 11 December, 2003, 18:27 GMT Foster claims first gold
Mark Foster pictured before a race in 2003 Foster rode his luck
in the heats Mark Foster has won Great Britain's first gold
medal at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in
Dublin.  Foster won the men's 50m freestyle in a time of 21.42
seconds after qualifying fastest for Thursday evening's final.
But Foster nearly did not make it that far after he was lucky to
get through the heats.  Under new rules only two competitors
from each country are allowed in the semi-final and final.
Foster, 33, finished joint 17th in the heats but made it into
the semi-finals after a swim-off because only two of the three
Germans who swam faster were allowed through.  "I only just
scraped through this morning," said Foster after claiming gold.
"I'm not really a morning person and I chilled a bit much in the
heat.  "I always like to sav