MICHAEL RIMMER has hailed his record-breaking run in Lausanne as the perfect confidence-booster ahead of the European Championships in Barcelona.

The Liverpool Pembroke Sefton star enjoyed a night to remember at the Diamond League meeting in Switzerland as he shattered his personal best which had stood since July, 2008.

Rimmer’s time of 1:44.49 shaved 0.19secs off his previous mark and lifted him from 13th to eight in the all-time list of UK 800m runners.

One of the notable names he leapfrogged is Wirral’s Ikem Billy, who clocked 1:44.65 back in 1984, which means Rimmer is now the fastest Merseyside 800m runner in history.

“I feel like I’m peaking at the right time and I’ve taken a lot of confidence from that race in Lausanne,” he said.

“To run a PB in my last run before a major championships, I couldn’t ask for any more than that.

“It’s great to climb so high in the all-time rankings and to only be just behind one of my heroes like Steve Ovett is amazing.

“It’s the fastest time by a Brit for 17 years and I believe there is a lot more to come.

“To beat Ikem’s time was also special. I bumped into him last year and he reminded me he was still the fastest 800m runner Merseyside’s ever had. It’s a nice achievement to take that crown off him.”

Rimmer’s heroics were only enough to take fifth place in a high quality race won by Kenyan David Rudisha in 1:43.25.

However, he did claim the scalp of European champion Bram Som of Holland and was the second European home behind Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski.

“Last year was the first year I hadn’t run a PB since I was 11 so it’s satisfying to prove 2009 was just a blip,” Rimmer added.

“If I hadn’t run a PB in that race I would have been distraught.

“I had mixed emotions afterwards because although it was a PB, I felt there was a lot more there.

“It was a strange race because I was always towards the back. I really wanted to get up the front because I knew Rudisha wasn’t aiming for a really quick time.”