The European Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships Hungary 2026 came to a close at Lake Velence on Sunday with the mixed team relays, and it was fitting that the host nation should end the week on top of the podium, as they had done four times already in the week.
Hungary were crowned best team, topping the medal table with their best ever medal tally of 13, five of them gold, to claim the title for the sixth time in the last seven editions since 2019, missing out only in 2022.
The 4x1500m Mixed Team relays, split across the U19 and U16 age groups, brought the curtain down on four days of racing, and both finals delivered the kind of tight, dramatic finishes that had characterised the whole week.
The U19 Mixed Team relay opened proceedings on what was the hottest day of the week, and it saw the lead change hands more than once before Germany came out on top. Juliana Buttler had Germany down in tenth after the opening leg, over a minute behind the pace, mostly due to the difference in orders between the boys and girls from the other nations, before Julia Ackermann’s second leg lifted them to fourth.
Moritz Erkmann then hauled Germany into the lead outright on the third leg as the advantages evened out, despite Italy’s Ivan Sartor swimming the fastest split of the field on the same leg to close the gap to just 1.85 seconds, and 800m European record holder Johannes Liebmann held his nerve on the anchor to bring it home in 1:06:39.62.
Italy’s path to silver had followed a similar shape in reverse: Ginevra Bagaglini had them third after leg one, only for 7.5km champion Mahila Spennato to slip them back to fifth on leg two, also due to the boys in other nations opting to swim in that slot, before Sartor’s charge dragged them up to second. Davide Grossi kept them there to secure silver, 36.08 seconds back.
Hungary’s bronze was built from the back end of the race, with Mira Miszlai and Napsugar Nagy keeping the team in touch in seventh through the opening two legs before Marton Huszti’s third leg vaulted them into fourth, and Mate Karpati completed the job on the anchor to edge out Russia for bronze by just 0.19 seconds in one of the closest finishes of the week, and one which the home fans revelled in.
The U16 Mixed Team relay went the way of the hosts, and the destination of gold shifted throughout. Russia led at the 3km mark despite fielding both of their girls first on their opening two legs, with Anastasiia Siniakova second on the opening leg before Kira Guseva’s leg put the Russians in front outright with two solid swims, which didn’t come as a surprise to those in attendance given they touched home in second and first respectively in the 5km event two days prior.
Hungary, who had been third through Anna Bartalos and fourth through Nora Barta at the opening checkpoint, then saw their boys begin to turn up the tempo, as Armand Attila Marosszeki delivered the quickest third-leg split of the entire race to seize the lead, and Zeteny Sarkany held it on the anchor to seal gold in 1:08:13.31. It capped a remarkable week for Sarkany, who added the relay title to his individual 5km and Knockout 14-16 golds, while Marosszeki’s leg rounded off a Championships that also included two individual silver medals.
Bartalos, who had collected bronze and silver earlier in the week, completed her own set with gold on the opening leg, following silver in the knockout sprint and bronze in the 7.5km events. Russia settled for silver as Egor Greshnykh and Aleksandr Filipets brought the team home 21.01 seconds back, while Italy claimed bronze as Sofia Biagi and Massimo Novello held onto the position Corpolongo had earned them.
The result sealed a historic week for Hungary, who finish with five gold, three silver and five bronze medals for a tally of 13, comfortably their best return at a European Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships. Russia were the closest challengers on the medal table, taking ten medals in total, with Italy completing the top three on five medals, two of them gold.
Germany finished fourth with four medals, also including two golds. France claimed a single gold along with two bronzes, while Spain’s lone medal came in the form of silver.
The attention of the open water swimming family now turns to the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, with the sport taking place from 4-8 August, while the junior athletes will be setting off to Switzerland next June for the 2027 championships, which run from 16-19 June.
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Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
