Hungary’s Vivien Jackl, whose last gold in the European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships was earned in 2024, regained the top of the podium on day five in Munich, winning the women’s 200m butterfly and adding silver in the 800m freestyle.

Elsewhere Italy’s Alessandro Mao produced an astonishing finish in the women’s 100m freestyle to earn her first individual gold medal after numerous relay successes.

Neutral athlete Kseniia Misharina took women’s 800m freestyle gold, and her team-mate Grigorii Vekovishchev won the men’s version in the opening race of the evening session before anchoring the NA home to victory in the closing men’s 4x200m freestyle relay, setting a European junior record time of 7:09.16.

Earlier in the evening France’s Andreanne Bourseul set a Championship record of 26.03 in the women’s 50m butterfly, breaking the mark of 26.10 set in 2023 by Lana Pudar of Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Jackl, 17, has been securing medals at the European Juniors since she was 13, when she earned 400m individual medley bronze at the 2023 edition in Otopeni.

But after winning the 400m IM and 4x200m freestyle at the Vilnius 2024 edition and adding the European senior 1500m freestyle title in the same year, this multi-talented athlete slipped off the gold standard in 2025, when she earned European junior bronze in the 400m IM and 1500m freestyle.

But that changed in a 200m butterfly final where Jackl – who had earlier taken silver here in the 400m IM and 1500m – reached the halfway point in third position behind neutral athlete Serafima Fokina and her Hungarian team-mate Boroka Kertesz.

In the space of the next 50m she took more than a second out of the NA leader, turning for home with a lead of 0.30 which she stretched to 0.64 as she touched home in 2:09.42

The early evening sun slanting into the glass-walled Munich 1972 Olympic pool was golden on her happy face.

I was a little bit surprised to win this event,” she told European Aquatics. “I had gone well in the heats and semi-final but I had no idea I had it in me to win and I wasn’t expecting it.

“I have been training for the 400 and the 1500. So the 200 fly was just something to enjoy, something different to try.”

Fokina took silver in 2:10.06 and Kertesz ensured their would be two Hungarians on the podium as she clocked 2:10.87.

Jackl had quarter of an hour between getting her gold medal around her neck and taking part in the women’s 800m freestyle final, where she had qualified second fastest in 8:39.02 behind neutral athlete and defending champion Sofia Diakova on 8:36.58.

By 200m the medal contenders were clear as the Hungarian and the NA swimmers either side of her in the middle lanes moved ahead of the rest of the field.

With 200m remaining Jackl moved ahead of Diakova to challenge the long-time leader Misharina, who had a margin of 2.61.

With 100 to go the lead had been trimmed to 1.91, but the gap could not quite be closed and Jackl touched home for her third silver of these Championships in 8:26.97, with Misharina earning gold in 8:25.75 and Diakova taking bronze in 8:32.83.

Coming into these Championships Jackl had suggested that she was not feeling confident. Asked after her 800m freestyle race how it was now, she responded:

“It’s definitely a bit better, but I feel it’s still not the way I want it. I’m kind of sad about this 800. I thought I could win this too.

“But I’m trying to enjoy every race and to push myself harder each day.

“I have the Europeans in August and I will try and focus on that and get the best out of myself.

“After that I will be going to university in the United States, and that is also a great motivation for me.”

Mao’s achievement in the women’s 100m freestyle was dramatic. She turned in seventh place, 0.67 down on the leader, neutral athlete Kira Manokhina. But the power flowed as she charged for home, touching first by 0.09 in 54.28.

Manokhina took silver in 54.37, and Great Britain’s Emma Wood, one place outside the medals at the halfway point, came through to claim bronze in 54.61 ahead of Spain’s Irene Ciercoles Galve, who recorded 54.68.

“I am so happy about this,” Mao said. “It feels so good.

“I don’t usually do the first half of the 100 very quick, so I knew I might be a bit slower at the turn but I still knew I had chances of a medal.”

Vekovishchev added men’s 800m freestyle gold to the 400m individual medley title he earned last year.

After Italy’s Francesco Volpe had led proceedings from lane eight up to the 350m mark the NA swimmer made his move to establish a 0.11 lead at the halfway point which he never lost and coming home in 7:52.31.

Silver went to Poland’s Mikolaj Litoborski, whose final 50 took him past the second NA finalist, Maksim Gusev, and a time of 7:53.36.

Gusev clocked 7:54.37 to finish clear of the Spaniard who had missed out on 1500m gold by 0.09 earlier in the week, Juan Vallmitjana Behrendt.

Tajus Juska of Lithuania, who won 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly last year, is bidding to regain the 100m freestyle title he won at Vilnius in 2024.

Having won 200m freestyle silver here he did not start in defence of his 50m freestyle and failed to make the final of the 100m butterfly.

But he ensured his place in tomorrow’s men’s 100m freestyle final after finishing third fastest qualifier in 48.81 behind NA swimmer Egor Proshin on 48.51 and Spain’s Luca Hoek, who beat him to this title last year in Samorin, on 48.76.

Czech swimmer Jan Foltyn, who already has a gold and a silver – plus a Championship record – to his name, is in search of further success.

He topped semi-final qualifying in the men’s 50m butterfly on 23.37, from Britain’s defending champion Dean Fearn on 23.51 and Hungary’s David Antal, who retained his 200m butterfly title here and clocked 23.73 ahead of tomorrow’s final.

Neutral athlete Mikhail Shcherbakov, who has already won gold in the 200m IM and men’s 4x100m freestyle qualified fastest for tomorrow’s men’s 100m backstroke in 54.30 ahead of France’s 200m backstroke champion Nathan Muratory on 55.06.

Britain’s 200m breaststroke champion Max Morgan qualified third fastest for tomorrow’s 100m breaststroke final in 1:00.95 behind Germany’s Louis Hoffman on 1:00.64 and Evangelos Ntoumas of Greece on 1:00.88.

Ukraine’s Iryna Miliutina and Yana Klikotska topped the women’s 100m breaststroke semi-finals in 1:08.81 and 1:08.89 respectively.

Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu of Romania, the women’s 50m backstroke champion, topped qualifying for the women’s 100m backstroke final on 1:00.25 from Eva Rottink of The Netherlands on 1:00.41.

Poland’s Barbara Lesniewska was fastest in the women’s 200m IM semi-finals on 2:14.45.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics