It took a world record to beat Michael Jamieson to a gold medal in the 200m breaststroke on Wednesday as the Glasgow swimmer won silver for Great Britain with a measured and powerful performance that had a roaring Aquatics Centre on its feet.

Scoring his third personal best in two days, the 23-year old son of a swimmer and a footballer poured on the speed in the last 50m to almost haul in the world champion and eventual winner, Daniel Gyurta of Hungary.

Jamieson hit the wall amid a cacophony just an eighth of a second behind Gyurta, who set a new world record of 2m 07.28 secs.

It brought to nine the number of medals for Team GB. Jamieson's achievement – the greatest yet for Great Britain in the pool at London 2012 – thrilled British swimming fans who until then had only had Rebecca Adlington's 400m freestyle bronze to show for their fervent backing. It also reinstated Britain's reputation in Olympic breaststroke swimming, which began at the 1976 Montreal Olympics where fellow Scot David Wilkie took gold in the 200m.

"I was desperate to get on the podium tonight to repay the support we've had," he said after his first ever Olympic final produced a medal. "I planned for this and I think that helped with the nerves. For so many years I've gone over this in my head. I prepared for it and I am delighted."

The Scot is improving fast. He was fifth at last year's World Championships, and won silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

The 23-year-old had lowered the British record twice en route to the final to become the eighth fastest swimmer in the event in history. His final performance – 2mins 07.43secs – was the fourth fastest time in history.

Jamieson was drawn in lane 4 alongside his training mate, Andrew Willis in lane 3, and the redcapped pair who had qualified first and third attacked the race in tandem, keeping double Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima and Gyurta in their sights. It was not until the final length that Willis faded into eighth place, and Jamieson showed his power to close on the world champion in front of his friends and family among the roaring 17,000 strong crowd.

Making the final turn, Gyurta seemed to be in control. Then, as he popped up and down in the water, heading for home, Gyurta suddenly felt Jamieson surging up on his right shoulder. The race was turning into a 50m shootout and Jamieson was in the ascendency on the champion. A few more strokes and it could have been Jamieson's gold.

"I'm just delighted I swum so close," he said. "I can't believe I've just swum 2.07, and the crowd were unbelievable and I can only thank everyone for their support. It's been a special week, I've done everything I wanted to and it's been a good day for Team GB all round."

Kitajima, one of the greats of world swimming, faded as the race reached its climax and was again denied in his bid to become the first male swimmer to win the same individual race in three straight Olympics – an achievement still possible for the American Michael Phelps.

Willis – who is 21 and trains in Bath under David McNulty, the same coach as Jamieson – was delighted for his team mate. "Michael deserves this and I've seen him train for a few years now and he's capable of great things, we've seen that today," he said. "So I'm really happy for him and to be there with him."

Jamieson was a talented footballer who had to choose between the sports. He once said: "I was probably better at football to be honest but enjoyed swimming more. It must have been during winter when I decided."

As he made his way to the medal podium, the reality of his achievement in swimming sunk in, and as he beamed and waved to the crowd he put his hand to his mouth in disbelief. When he received the silver medal he punched the air with both fists and puffed his cheeks.

In the semi-final of the women's 100m freestyle, Fran Halsall qualified for Thursday's final in fifth place and exhorted an already raucous Aquatics Centre to raise the roof for her medal race.

"It was loud tonight, but it was as loud for Missy Franklin [the USA swimmer]," she said. "All the Brits coming to watch tomorrow night – I want you to shout louder than the Americans did."

A disappointed Amy Smith was knocked out in the same heat. Jemma Lowe came sixth in the 200m butterfly as China's Jiao Liuyang added the Olympic title to the World Championship gold she won last year.