A total of 46 women will take to the River Seine for four days of open water swimming action at the European Aquatics Championships 2026, with four gold medals up for grabs across as many days.
In what looks to be one of the most open fields in recent years, there are medal shouts from arguably close to a dozen athletes.
At last year’s European Open Water Swimming Championships in Stari Grad, Croatia, Viktória Mihalyvari-Farkas produced one of the stories of the meet, winning the women’s 10km title only the second time she had ever raced the event.
A pool swimmer by background and the 2022 European 400m individual medley champion, the Hungarian surged from 11th to first over the closing laps to claim gold, and she returns to defend her title in the River Seine in both the 5km and the 10km events, as well as with compatriot Bettina Fabian in the mixed team relay.
She will again face Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci, the Paris 2024 Olympic 10km bronze medallist, who finished just behind Mihalyvari-Farkas in Croatia to take silver.
Taddeucci turned the tables in the 5km a few days earlier, holding off the Hungarian to win gold by less than two seconds, and the pair look poised to renew their rivalry across both distances in Paris. Taddeucci is entered in all four open water events on the programme – the same as the Hungarian plus the 3km knockout sprint event.
Italy bring further firepower through the likes of Barbara Pozzobon and Giulia Berton, as their six-strong women’s team will take to the water with high hopes.
Spain’s Clara Martinez de Salinas Pena, Angela Martinez Guillén and Candela Sanchez Lora give Spain a strong hand across the individual distances and relay as they all form a strong contingent from the country who look to be taking their chances at a medal very seriously.
Hungary’s Bettina Fabian, who won the inaugural women’s 3km knockout sprint title in Croatia ahead of Spain’s Paula Otero Fernandez, returns to defend that title in Paris. Otero Fernandez, the silver medallist, is again entered in the event and will be one of Fabian’s closest challengers over the fast, segmented format.
France’s Caroline Jouisse and Ines Delacroix headline the home team, both entered across the full programme, while Monaco’s Lisa Pou, a two-time European 10km finalist and 10km bronze medallist at last year’s World Championships returns to compete over all three individual events once more.
One of the more unknown quantities will be Neutral Athletes B, with many of the athletes making their senior European Championships debuts. Polina Koziakina stands as one of the team’s brightest prospects heading into the competition. Having medalled at both the 2025 and 2026 Junior Championships, she looks well-positioned to make a real impact this time.
Ekaterina Sorokina rounds out the women’s contenders as another strong candidate. A familiar name on the circuit for several seasons now, she has consistently shown a knack for putting herself in contention when it counts most.
Also competitive will be the German team. Julia Ackermann, who less than two weeks ago took the European junior title in the 3km knockout sprint, will make the step up to senior level in both the 5km and mixed team relay events. Isabel Gose, who was crowned world champion last year in that relay event, will return to try and take the European crown alongside Ackermann, as well as going in the 3km knockout sprint.
Turkey’s Su Inal, Tuna Erdogan and Gocke Ozturk also have the potential to make inroads. With all athletes still in their teenage years, they will likely look to use this competition as an opportunity to swim without fear and to upset the more established names.
Hungary will defend the mixed relay title they won in Stari Grad, where Mihalyvari-Farkas and Fabian combined with David Betlehem and Kristof Rasovszky to edge out Italy and France for gold by just two seconds. Taddeucci, who swam for Italy’s silver-medal quartet, returns to lead the Italian challenge, while France’s Clemence Coccordano and Delacroix will again likely anchor a home team that finished agonisingly close to gold last year.
Elsewhere, Great Britain’s Amelie Blocksidge and the Netherlands’ Hedwig Bolt are among the younger names entered over 10km, while Poland’s Klaudia Tarasiewicz, a European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Cup winner in 2025, is entered across the 3km knockout, 5km and 10km in search of a first Championship medal.
Open water swimming at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 will take place in the River Seine from August 4 to 8, with the women’s 10km on day one, the 5km on day two, the 3km knockout sprint on day four and the mixed 4x1500m relay closing the programme on day five, with day three held as a contingency.
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Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
