Linda Roth earned the host nation its first medal at the European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships Munich 2026, winning the women’s 200m freestyle at the start of a day two evening session which closed with neutral athletes setting a world junior record in the mixed 4x100m freestyle.

Elsewhere in another raucous session at the Munich 1972 Olympic pool Great Britain’s Max Morgan won his battle in the men’s 50m breaststroke with the Czech whose Championship record he had equalled in the semi-final, Jan Foltyn, and Hungary’s David Antal retained his men’s 200m butterfly title in imperious style.

Turkiye’s Ahmet Boylu was a surprise winner of the men’s 200m freestyle and Romania’s Daria Mariuca Silisteanu took the women’s 50m backstroke title.

Meanwhile neutral athletes claimed two more golds as Grigorii Chernogaev won the men’s 50m backstroke and the women’s 50m breaststroke went to Sofia Anufriova.

Competing at these Championships for the third and last time, Roth was a picture of delight after securing her first individual European junior medal.

“This means so much to me,” she told European Aquatics. “It’s so nice here in Munich to win in front of everyone; my family and friends, it’s so amazing.

“Of course I was very nervous but I just said to myself I have trained for this, I can do this and the atmosphere really helped me.

“I saw the crowd on my last 50m and I thought ‘I have dreamed of this and I really need to do this’ because I’ve wanted this gold medal since I was a kid.

“I hope I inspired some kids here. I see them at the pool and they look at me and say ‘congrats’ and it’s so sweet.

“I have so much confidence now for the 100m freestyle and the 400m freestyle now and I’m looking forward to racing it.”

The German athlete took over the lead at the halfway point from the fastest qualifier, Lithuania’s Ieva Jurkunaite, and held her lead to come home in 1:57.79.

Fast-finishing neutral athlete Sofia Diakova, who will be defending her 400m and 800m freestyle titles here, took silver in 1:58.32 ahead of Italy’s defending champion Bianca Nannucci, who claimed bronze in 1:58.82.

The closest Roth had previously come to an individual European Junior medal was in 2024 when she finished fourth in the 200m individual medley, although she has three bronzes and a silver from relay racing.

A day after anchoring the NA men’s 4x100m freestyle team to successive world junior records of 3:14.72 and 3:12.75, Mikhail Shcherbakov played his part in another world junior record performance as the neutral athletes won the mixed 4x100m freestyle in 3:23.96.

The effort produced by Shcherbakov, Egor Proshin, Kseniia Sorokina and Kir Maonokhina bettered the mark of 3:24.29 set by Australia in 2023.

Great Britain’s Amalie Smith, who had earned 400m individual medley and 4x100m freestyle relay gold on day one, added a silver as she anchored her team to second place in 3:26.50 – just shy of the European junior record Britain had set at last year’s World Junior Championships.

Italy claimed bronze in 3:26.97.

It was another impressive night for Shcherbakov, who had earlier bettered his own men’s 200m individual medley 2025 Championship record of 1:59.04 as he qualified for tomorrow’s final in 1:57.07.

The men’s 50m breaststroke saw Morgan and Foltyn, who had both clocked 27.18 the previous day, matching each other stroke for stroke in lanes four and five respectively before the Briton edged ahead to secure gold in 27.26, with Foltyn finishing 0.03 behind and Germany’s Louis Hoffmann taking bronze in 27.34.

Upon seeing the result Morgan hoisted himself up on a lane rope, waved to his supporters and then smashed his fist into the water.

“It did mean a lot,” said the 18-year-old. “This season hasn’t been the easiest, especially coming from getting my appendix removed (in November) and with exams, so to be European junior champion just means so much to me.

“Watching Fil (Filip Nowacki) do so well last year and all the Brits swimming really well, especially in breaststroke, it’s really motivated me to train hard and be competing against Fil and Adam (Ramsay-Peaty) after a really hard time and a big knockback.

“It just makes all the hard work really worth it and I’m so happy.”

He now has an individual European junior gold to add to the relay gold and bronze he won at the Vilnius 2024 edition and the 100m breaststroke bronze and mixed 4x100m medley bronze he claimed at last year’s World Junior Championships.

Antal led men’s 200m butterfly title from start to finish before winning in 1:57.40.

Georgios Kalandros of Greece claimed silver in 1:58.77, with France’s Paolo Couenne-Bensabeur taking bronze in 1:58.84.

Antal, who also won 200m butterfly bronze in 2024, commented: “I’m very happy to have a gold again and I want to say to the next generation that they have to train hard because next year I won’t be here so there will be a new champion and I hope they train very hard to be the champion.

“It is awesome and I can’t describe the feeling (of winning again) but I’m very proud of myself.

“I won three medals in a row and it’s just amazing for me.”

Asked about the way he is maintaining a Hungarian tradition in the butterfly established by athletes such as 2015 world champion and six-times Olympic medallist Lazlo Ceh and Kristof Milak, a double Olympic champion and three-times world champion, he added:

“Our legacy is really important to me. I try to train really hard so I can live up to the expectations of others and of myself.”

Boylu took over the lead from Lithuania’s Tajus Juska after the halfway point of the men’s 200m freestyle and finished in 1:45.68.

Juska, who will defend his 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly titles later this week, looked more than happy to have replicated his silver-medal performance in this event last year as he came powered home in 1:45.83, raising both his arms in the air.

The noise levels rose as Austria’s defending champion Christian Giefing moved up to second place with 50m to go, but Juska and then neutral athlete Bogdan Toropkin passed him on the final length, with the latter taking bronze in 1:46.15, just 0.01 ahead.

Silisteanu, who also earned women’s 50m bronze last year, upgraded to gold this time round, clocking 27.94 to finish ahead of Spain’s Irene Ciercoles Galve, who recorded 27.97.

France’s Jeanne Lechevalier earned bronze in 28.07.

Chernogaev clocked 24.84 in the men’s 50m backstroke to finish clear of Belarus athlete Artsiom Yarmak on 24.92, with Chernogaev’s team-mate Matvei Asheko taking bronze in 25.08.

Anufrieva, fastest qualifier for the women’s 50m breaststroke, followed through to take gold in 30.88 from Valeryia Shylko of Belarus, who recorded 31.38.

Great Britain’s Gabrielle Beavers was a surprise medallist as she earned bronze from lane one in 31.54.

Ciercoles Galve finished her work for the day by qualifying fastest for tomorrow’s women’s 50m freestyle final in 24.82, with Great Britain’s Theodora Taylor clocking 24.86.

Neutral athletes Serafima Fokina and Varvara Khvesiuk were top qualifiers for tomorrow’s women’s 100m butterfly final in 58.85 and 58.92 respectively, with Italy’s Caterina Santambrogio and home swimmer Yara Fay Riefstahl third and fourth in 59.00 and 59.10.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics