Paris 2026: Marchand makes winning start to individual quest as Sjostrom and Curtis progress on day five at European Aquatics Championships
France’s swimming icon Leon Marchand began his pursuit of individual honours in encouraging fashion at the European Aquatics Championships this morning. Having dropped any breaststroke racing from his programme because of the hip adductor injury he is still carrying, the 24-year-old four-time Paris 2024 champion received predictably massive support in the Olympic Aquatic Arena as he won his men’s 200m butterfly heat in 1:55.90. That made him fourth fastest qualifier for tonight’s semi-finals behind Italy’s Alberto Razzetti on 1:54,64, Spain’s Arbidel Gonzalez Alvarez on 1:55.07 and Krzysztof Chmielewski of Poland on 1:55.77. Marchand has already demonstrated courage and accomplishment at these Championships by risking himself in the men’s 4x200m freestyle and helping to secure silver with a scorching opening split of 1:43.76. Now he is testing himself once again in the event where he clocked an Olympic record of 1:52.21 to beat defending champion Kristof Milak in the French capital two years ago. World record holder Milak, who competed heroically last night in earning golds in the men’s 100m butterfly and men’s 4x100m freestyle, is not contesting the men’s 200m butterfly here. Sarah Sjostrom’s championship comeback continued in fine style this morning as she began her pursuit of a golden double. The 32-year-old Swede, who returned to competition in April having taken 20 months off following her 50m and 100m freestyle wins at the Paris 2024 Olympics – during which time she became a mother – was second fastest qualifier for tonight’s women’s 50m freestyle semi-finals in 24.21. The qualifiers were topped by 21-year-old Milou van Wijk, who clocked 24.13 in her heat, finishing ahead of Dutch team-mate Marrit Steenbergen. Steenbergen, who clocked the fourth fastest time of 24.34 in the next door lane, was smiling broadly as both exited the pool. But then she already has so much to smile about, having taking gold and silver in the women’s 100m freestyle and women’s 200m freestyle respectively, and relay gold and silver in the women’s 4x100m freestyle and mixed 4x100m freestyle respectively. Entered for five individual events, Steenbergen’s quest goes on. She had to get a wriggle on in order to be ready for the next women’s swimming heats in the 100m backstroke… Sara Curtis touched home first in her 50m freestyle heat – and for once it wasn’t a world record. The 19-year-old Italian, who had won 50m backstroke gold the night before after breaking the world mark for a second successive time, moved through third fastest in the 50m freestyle in 24.33. Steenbergen’s 100m backstroke heats went well. She produced the joint fastest time of 59.66, one that was shared – to the great satisfaction of another full house – by France’s Mary-Ambre Moluh, the women’s 50m backstroke silver medallist. France’s women’s 200m backstroke bronze medallist Pauline Mahieu was also cheered to the echo as she registered the third fastest time of 1:00.25. Italy’s world champion Simone Cerasuolo topped heats qualifying in the men’s 50m breaststroke in 26.20 ahead of his Italian team-mate Nicolo Martinenghi, winner of the men’s 100m breaststroke title here two years after claiming that honour in the Paris 2024 Games. Martinenghi clocked 26.65. But there was disappointment for Great Britain’s multiple world and Olympic champion Adam Ramsay-Peaty, fifht in the men’s 100m breaststroke final, as he failed to progress, finishing 20th in 27.34. Germany’s Paris 2024 10km open water swimming silver medallist Oliver Klemet and 19-year-old Johannes Liebmann, already men’s 800m freestyle champion here, topped qualifying for what promises to be a monumental men’s 1500m final tomorrow night in 14:48.51 and 14:50.83. That meant their team-mate Sven Schwarz, the former European record holder in the 800m freestyle, could not progress despite finishing fifth in 14:52.16 due to the two nations rule. The home crowd rose to Sacha Velly as he qualified third fastest in 14:51.49 ahead of Hungary’s world short course champion Zalan Sarkany on 14:52.94, with Ireland’s Paris 2024 1500m bronze medallist and 800m freestyle champion Daniel Wiffen sixth fastest on 14:52.29 followed by Hungary’s multiple open water medallist David Betlehem on 14:57.96. Israel’s defending champion Anastasia Gorbenko was fastest into tomorrow’s women’s 200m individual medley final in 2:11.87 ahead of Ireland’s 400m IM gold medallist Ellen Walshe on 2:12.12 and Britons Abbie Wood on 2:12.23 and 16-year-old 400m IM silver medallist Amalie Smith on 2:12.45. Czechia topped the qualifying for tonight’s mixed 4x100m freestyle final in 3:23.41 from The Netherlands on 3:23.94 and Italy on 3:23.96. Click here for the event page, which includes all start lists and results. Click here to watch all of the action on Eurovision Sport. Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
Paris 2026: World record for “Superwoman” Curtis on winning night for Sjostrom, Liebmann and – just – Popovici
Nineteen-year-old Sara Curtis of Italy, always likely to earn high honours at these European Aquatics Championships, peaked earlier than expected in the evening session of day three as she set a world record of 26.63 in the women’s 50m backstroke semi-finals. Curtis had hopes of a first European gold here having set a European record of 27.07 in Rome on June 27. But tonight’s result must have surpassed her expectations as she erased the mark of 26.68 set by Australia’s Kaylee McKeown in Budapest three years ago. “I knew I was capable of doing it but I didn’t expect it here, in this race, in this moment,” Curtis told European Aquatics. “I didn’t expect to go so fast and it’s just so awesome and I’m so happy! “I can tell that I am super woman right now, it’s unbelievable and I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.” She finished the session at the Olympic Aquatic Centre by putting in an inspired leg of 52.29 to move Italy into a lead in the women’s 4x100m freestyle which only The Netherlands, for whom world champion Marrit Steenbergen swam an anchor leg of 51.34, could overcome. The Dutch clocked a Championship record of 3:31.89, with Italy taking silver in 3:33.19 and bronze going to NAB in 3:33.69. Curtis’s exploits were the highlight on another night of Olympic quality which saw Romania’s David Popovici being pushed to his limits to secure a third European men’s 100m freestyle title while Sweden’s 32-year-old Sarah Sjostrom returned in triumph to championship racing after her 20-month absence from the sport. It was quite the night for 19-year-olds as Germany’s Johannes Liebmann bettered his own European record in recording 7:37.59 to win a stacked men’s 800m freestyle final. Elsewhere Hungary’s world and Olympic men’s 200m backstroke champion Hubert Kos earned his first European title in that event in 1:53.08 and Great Britain’s Angharad Evans secured women’s 100m breaststroke gold with her third consecutive Championship record. Ireland’s Ellen Walshe overtook Britain’s 16-year-old European junior champion Amalie Smith in the last 25 metres to win the women’s 400m individual medley title Sjostrom, who returned to racing in April after becoming a mother, collected her 18th European gold in winning the women’s 50m butterfly. It was as if she had never been away. The Swede – who won the 50m and 100m freestyle at the Paris 2024 Olympics, had qualified fastest in heats and semi-finals and she continued to get even faster, holding off the challenge of Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk – 11 years her junior – to clock 25.05 and collect her 18th European gold. Vanotterdijk won silver in 25.12, with Sweden finding a second presence on the podium through Sara Junevik who claimed bronze in 25.51. “It was a challenge to come back but I’m really happy I took the chance,” Sjostrom said. “I never rushed anything with my comeback and a great team helped me all of the way. I’m grateful to be back at this level. “I’m not back to the level of where I was, I’m not as fast and I’m not removing as quickly but where I am now is very interesting and exciting.” In a stupendous 100m freestyle contest NAB athlete Egor Kornev reached the turn leading Popovici by 0.30 in 22.06 and he looked likely to bring about a shock victory until the last two or three strokes. The 21-year-old Romanian world and Olympic champion found the way to win in that short distance, earning his third consecutive European title in this event in 46.56 and taking 0.16 off the Championship record he had set in the semi-finals. Kornev took silver in 46.74, with bronze going to Hungary’s Olympic 100m butterfly champion Kristof Milak in 46.87, “I’m getting close to that world record but I’m happy to being consistently near to it so I now know even more what the little things I need to work on are,” Popovici said. “And that means I don’t need to be distracted from enjoying what was a great time and a result I’m very, very happy with, against a packed field.” Spain’s European junior champion Luca Hoek was fourth in 47.39, one place ahead of Croatia’s Jere Hribar on 47.42. Kos had qualified for the men’s 200m backstroke final in a European and Championship record of 1:52.30, and for a while it looked as if he might be having a serious go at the 17-year-old world record of 1:51.92 set by Aaron Peirsol of the United States at the Rome 2009 Rome World Championships. The genial Hungarian could not quite maintain that pace, but the gold was never going anywhere else. Greece’s defending champion Apostolos Siskos claimed silver in 1:53.81, and Italy’s Olympic 100m backstroke champion Thomas Ceccon earning bronze in 1:53.96. Evans, who won two Commonwealth golds for Scotland last month, now has a European 100m breaststroke gold to set alongside it. After Italy’s Benedetta Pilato had turned ahead with a 0.30 lead in 30.8, Evans came back inexorably, surging clear of all opposition in the final 25 metres before touching in 1:04.87. Ireland’s Paris 2024 bronze medallist Mona McSharry moved up to claim silver in 1:05.41 with Pilato taking bronze in 1:05.89. Estonia’s 19-year-old defending champion Eneli Jefimova was fourth in 1:05.94. Smith looked on the point of winning the women’s 400m individual medley but Walshe was an irresistible force on her left, coming through to take gold in 4:34.32, with the Briton taking silver in 2:35.12 and bronze going to Poland’s Justina Kozan in 4:36.47. Liebmann won a monumental contest in the men’s 800m freestyle, finishing comfortably clear of his team-mate Sven Schwarz, whose European record he broke earlier this year. Schwarz earned silver in 7:41.16 and bronze went to Hungary’s Zalan Sarkany in 7:41.75, with Ireland’s Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen missing a medal by one place in 7:43.30. Switzerland’s Noe Ponti, whose chances in the previous night’s men’s 50m butterfly final dipped with his goggles as they became dislodged
Paris 2026: Marchand and France make the podium on tumultuous opening night of Championship records
On a night when the first three swimming finals of the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 were won in Championship records, a tumultuous full house of excited spectators at the Olympic Aquatic Arena were also able to witness a first medal – silver – for France and a first ever European medal Leon Marchand. Unable to take part in the earlier 400m individual medley due to his lingering hip adductor injury, the four-times Paris 2024 gold medallist swam an inspired opening leg of the concluding men’s 4×200 freestyle – clocking 1:43.76, comfortably the fastest split in the final – to set the home nation up for a podium appearance. Gold went to the Great Britain quartet which won at last year’s World Championships – Matt Richards, Jack McMillan, James Guy, who clocked 1:44.07 and finally Duncan Scott, who brought them home in a Championship record time of 7:01.52. France – who had qualified seventh without Marchand in the morning’s heats – clocked a national record of 7:02.23 after Roman Fuchs – with roof-raising encouragement – had overtaken Germany’s Cornelius Jahn over the final 50m, with the Germans taking bronze in 7:02.28. Marchand’s time made him the sixth fastest performer ever in the event. It was a highly encouraging start to the Championships for him as he looks forward to the men’s 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle.. “I feel really good,” he said. “It felt like my debut, and it was explosive. I feel really sharp.” Shortly beforehand Great Britain’s women had won the women’s 4x200m freestyle after leading from start to finish, with Freya Anderson bringing things home in a Championship record of 7:45.93. Hungary’s quartet of Nikolett Padar, Lilla Abraham, Ajna Kesely and Panna Ugrai won the battle with NAB for silver, coming home in 7:49.09, with the NAB earning bronze in 7:49.13. There was also a Championship record in the first Paris 2026 swimming final as NAB athlete Ilia Borodin won the men’s 400m individual medley title in 4:08.17, bettering the 17-year-old mark of 4:09.59 set by Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. Matt Richards, who led the British men off in the relay, told European Aquatics: “Any time we walk away from a championships with a gold is always a great result so yeah, great performance from all the boys tonight and a really solid swim and we can walk away with the heads high tonight. Scott added: “It’s the first time in a long time we’ve won the Europeans, 2018 being the last, so to win it again is pretty good and putting ourselves in these positions is great. “We probably wanted a little more from ourselves in that one if I’m honest but it’s championship finals stuff so it’s about racing and getting the job done, which we did.” Jack McMillan added: “It’s great for Great Britain for the women to also win and for the men, we haven’t done this since 2018 so it’s great to put ourselves back in this position and just challenging ourselves and each one of us did our best tonight and gold was the aim which we achieved in front of a great crowd.” James Guy added: “Tonight was another good result for the women’s and men’s relays which is a great start for the team and we were pretty good there. “I think we wanted to go quicker individually but most of us are still learning about doubling up after the Commonwealth Games and now the Europeans but this just shows the strength we have.” Freya Colbert, who led off the British women’s relay quartet, commented: “”We all knew a massive performance was coming and we know that European record and British record was set by some massive names in our history and so we’ve had our eye on it for a while and to now be really close, it’s really big for us. Abbie Wood added: “I think this is such a relief as it’s been a really long time coming. We’ve all done the performances individually but on separate days and for us all to have a really good day at the same time is really hard but that’s been four years coming.” Freya Anderson commented: “I’ve had a tough time over by last few years and at the Commonwealths too, so to put that performance down was amazing.”In the absence of Marchand, the packed crowd witnessed a closely contested race involving three men who had won this title before.” Borodin, 23, who won European 400m IM gold in 2021, finished ahead of Italy’s 2022 champion Alberto Razzetti, who claimed silver in 4:10.40, with bronze going to Great Britain’s Max Litchfield in 4:11.58. The third participant who had won this European title, defending champion Apostolos Papastamos of Greece, finished sixth in 4:14.99. Borodin, strongest in final breaststroke and freestyle legs, took over the lead in the second half from Litchfield, with Razzetti also moving past the Briton in the second half. “I feel great, so great because I have done what I’ve done,” Borodin told European Aquatics, before referring to the 2021 win in his last EA Championships appearance: “I’ve worked so hard for this and finally it is ‘back to back’. “I’m the morning I felt I was too slow but tonight although it is not my personal best I feel good about the result.” Razzetti commented: “It’s always great to stand on such an important podium and race such a competitive field. This crowd? What else can you ask for? I’m really happy with my result and a silver medal is always a very nice thing to come home with.” Litchfield added: “It’s really great. Starting the Euros with the 400m IM is a little weird as it’s usually at the other end of the meet, but it’s really nice to kick us off as a team with that medal too.” Dutch double world champion Marrit Steenbergen, who had set a women’s 100m freestyle Championship record of 52.62, lowered it to 52.44 in reaching tomorrow
Paris 2026: Steenbergen advances on two fronts as Ponti and Curtis enjoy day 3 swimming heats
Marrit Steenbergen of The Netherlands, winner of the previous night’s 100m freestyle gold, qualified comfortably from the 200m freestyle and 50m backstroke heats in the day three morning session as she pursues her manifold ambitions at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026. Elsewhere there was a perky performance in the men’s 100m butterfly heats from Switzerland’s world silver medallist Noe Ponti, who had finished last in the men’s 50m butterfly final after his goggles had become displaced, and another impressive showing from Italy’s 19-year-old Sara Curtis, who topped the women’s 50m backstroke qualifying. Maxime Grousset, for whom these Championships were the first competition he was able to take part in after breaking a bone in his foot in early June, has already had some heady experiences in the Olympic Aquatic Centre. After being narrowly beaten to 50m butterfly gold by NAB’s Egor Kornev on day one he helped France earn its first gold on day 2 in the mixed 4×100 medley. This morning the 50m and 100m butterfly world champion was engaged in heats for the latter event and gave the packed home crowd an early focus for extra noise as he won his heat in 51.03. Ponti, disappointed the previous evening, managed an impressive re-set as he won his heat in 50.47, the fastest time of the morning, with Hungary’s Olympic champion Kristof Milak second fastest on 50.81. Also progressing, on 51.49, was Hungary’s world and Olympic 200m backstroke champion Hubert Kos, who will seek to win a first European title in that discipline tonight. Steenbergen, who already has women’s 100m freestyle gold and mixed 4x100m medley silver at these Championships, started in the third of her five scheduled events, the women’s 200m freestyle and qualified fourth fastest for tonight’s semi-finals in 1:58.00. The field was headed by Czechia’s defending champion Barbora Seemanova, who clocked 1:57.10. Steenbergen next turned to the women’s 50m backstroke, where she moved on from the heats as equal third fastest in 27.61, a time shared by France’s Analia Pigree and Alina Gaifutdinova of NAB. Curtis, who had won her first European medal the previous night by finishing third in the 100m freestyle, topped the qualifiers on 27.31 from France’s Mary-Ambre Moluh on 27.39. NAB’s Kirill Prigoda, fourth in the men’s 200m breaststroke at last year’s World Aquatics Championships, topped qualifying for tonight’s semi-finals in 2:09.33, from Great Britain’s 18-year-old Filip Nowacki on 2:09.47 and world bronze medallist Caspar Corbeau of The Netherlands on 2: 09.66. Poland’s Justina Kozan topped qualifiers for tonight’s women’s 400m individual medley final in 4:40.47 from Great Britain’s 16-year-old European junior champion Amalie Smith on 4:40.56 and Hungary’s 17-year-old Vivien Jackl, the 2024 silver medallist, on 4:40.71. Defending champion Anastasia Gorbenko of Israel qualified in seventh place on 4:42.23. The session ended on a high for home fans as Beryl Gastaldello anchored their women’s 4x100m freestyle team to victory in the second heat in 3:37.05, third fastest behind the NAB’s 3:36.61 and The Netherlands on 3:36.84. Click here for the event page, which includes all start lists and results. Click here to watch all of the action on Eurovision Sport. Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
Paris 2026: France find first gold as Italy top podium twice on swimming day 2 at European Aquatics Championships
The Olympic Aquatic Centre roof received a severe test on the second evening of swimming at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 as the hosts earned their first gold in the mixed 4x100m medley, where their lead-off swimmer Mary Ambre-Moluh set a European women’s backstroke record of 57.99.. Halfway through the closing relay medal ceremony the MC turned down the music and spectators took up the challenge to finish La Marseillaise in moving fashion. Earlier Italian flags had been given a vigorous airing as Nicolo Martinenghi and Simona Quadarella earned gold in the respective men’s 100m breaststroke and women’s 800m freestyle finals. There was a dizzying succession of world-class performances for the packed crowd, with Marrit Steenbergen setting a third successive Championship record in winning the women’s 100m freestyle title, NAB’s Egor Kornev earning men’s 50m victory ahead of home hope Maxime Grousset, and Katie Shanahan claiming the third British gold of these Championships in the women’s 200m backstroke. Hungary’s world and Olympic champion Hubert Kos qualified for tomorrow night’s men’s 200m backstroke final in a European and Championship record of 1:52.30. David Popovici of Romania reached tomorrow’s men’s 100m freestyle final in a Championship record of 46.72, bettering the then world record time of 46.86 he posted in winning this title in Rome four years ago. And Great Britain’s Angharad Evans set her second successive Championship record as she qualified for the women’s 100m breaststroke final, clocking 1:04.97. Can she mimic Steenbergen and claim a third Championship record tomorrow night? After the heroics of the previous evening, when Leon Marchand – still not fully fit – risked himself to produce a wonder swim in the opening leg of the men’s 4x200m freestyle to earn his first European medal and help France to silver, a second relay finale delivered all home spectators could have wished for. Grousset ended the night with gold to add to his earlier silver, partnering Moluh – who became the first European woman to break 58.00 for the 100m backstroke – Carl Aitkaci and Marie Wattel. The latter brought the team home in 3:39.64, ahead of The Netherlands, anchored by Steenbergen – who swam a closing leg of 50.87 to move her team up from fourth to second in 3:40.92 and NAB, who earned bronze in 3:41.52. “I think it’s amazing and such a special moment for everyone,” Wattel told European Aquatics. “We were very emotional as for most of us our families are here and we just wanted to enjoy every second, so we are super proud of the team and hopefully way more gold medals in the next few days. “I’m super grateful we are able to live such a moment like this, of course we were shaking a little bit (before the final) and nervous (because of the noise from the crowd) but we were also so motivated and I think they helped because we were not four people behind the blocks tonight we were 1000’s and thank you to all the French people.” Steenbergen had earlier won the women’s 100m freestyle title in 51.90 having set previous Championship records of 52.62 and 52.44. The double world champion, who lowered the world record to 51.68 earlier this year, thus regained the title she earned in 2022 and secured her seventh European gold. Given Steenbergen is entered in five events here who knows what that total will be by the end of the Championships? There was double Dutch delight as her 21-year-old team-mate Milou van Wijk came through to claim silver in 52.71 from Italy’s 19-year-old Sara Curtis, who was just 0.01 behind in bronze position. “I’m happy with the place and a Championship record,” Steenbergen told European Aquatics. “The most important thing is getting your hand on the wall first, so I think it’s mission accomplished. “This is the most important one. I still have a lot of races to go but it’s the one I wanted the most so now I have this one out of the way I just have some fun races to go and I think my shape is good so I’ll keep on building from that. “It’s great to have a Dutch one-two, she did really well do to have that on the team is really important for the relay so I think it’s really encouraging.” Curtis commented: “The race was really good. It was a personal best for me by two tenths of a second and I’m really happy because it’s my first European long course medal.” It was Italy’s turn for glory in the next final as their Paris 2024 champion Nicolo Martinenghi earned gold in 58.58, with his team-mate Simone Cerasuolo, the world champion, claiming bronze from lane eight in 58.90. Neutral Athlete B’s Ivan Kozhakin was silver medallist in 58.68. Great Britain’s Adam Ramsay-Peaty and Filip Nowacki finished fifth and sixth respectively in 59.10 and 59.11. Ramsay-Peaty had qualified in 58.94. The multiple world and Olympic champion turned in sixth place but was unable to find the kind of killing finish that he has produced down the years before generously congratulating the winner in the next door lane to him. “This is incredible,” Martinenghi said. “Probably Paris now has a piece of my heart better than Budapest (scene of his first world title), but as I said before I tried to give to Paris something because it gave a lot to me. I saw my parents here and my girlfriend. The crowd was incredible and before the start I knew I could win even though it was a tough race.” Cerasuolo added: “Yesterday I was very, very nervous and I wasn’t happy with my time. So now I am very happy to earn a medal – my first in European 100m breaststroke.” Maxime Grousset, who faced a race to be fit for these Championships after breaking a bone in his left foot during training in early June, strained every sinew to deliver the gold a raucous home crowd desired in the men’s 50m
Paris 2026: Sjostrom and Popovici prosper, Evans and Muratory set records in day two heats
Olympic champions Sarah Sjostrom and David Popovici made strong starts at the European Aquatics Championships in a morning session where Great Britain’s Angharad Evans set a women’s 100m breaststroke Championship record of 1:05.45 and France’s Nathan Muratory clocked a world junior record of 1:54.87 in the men’s 200m backstroke heats. Sjostrom, 32, contesting her first international championship since winning two golds at the Paris 2024 Games – since when she has become a mother – made a satisfying start as she qualified fastest for tonight’s women’s 50m butterfly semi-finals in 25.40. The prospect of her adding her current total of 28 European long course medals, which include 17 golds, look healthy. A virtually packed Olympic Aquatic Centre then got a first glimpse of Popovici, who will seek a third consecutive European 100m/200m double in Paris. Popovici was swiftest into tonight’s men’s 100m freestyle semi-finals in 47.13, followed by Croatia’s European indoor 50m freestyle champion Jere Hribar on 47.80. Evans, who had a breakthrough success at last month’s Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games where she won the 100m and 200m breaststroke for Scotland, looks set for further podium visits here after eclipsing the mark of 1:05.53 set by Russia’s Yuliya Efimova at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow. She headed a stacked field into tonight’s semi-finals, followed by Ireland’s Paris 2024 bronze medallist Mona McSharry on 1:05.97 and Benedetto Pilato of Italy on 1:06.20. Muratory, who won European junior men’s 200m backstroke gold in Munich last month, produced an extraordinary flourish in his first senior international championship as he and his French team-mate Mewen Tomac, who won world bronze in 2024, headed a list packed with world talent, with the latter recording 1:55.14. Hungary’s world and Olympic champion Hubert Kos, who is entered for six events here, was third fastest in 1:55.37. The downside for the hosts was that their world bronze medallist Yohann Ndoye-Brouard failed to progress due to the two athletes per nation rule. A world-class field is contesting the men’s 800m freestyle here, and Germany’s 19-year-old Johannes Liebmann was fastest into tomorrow night’s final in 7:41.87, having spent much of the race inside the pace of his own European record of 7:37.94 before easing off. Hungary’s Zalan Sarkany was second fastest in a national record of 7:42,34 and Ireland’s Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen clocked 7:44.86 in third position. Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
Paris 2026: Marchand speaks about “hard decision” to drop two events but is “excited” about home EA Championships
Leon Marchand today spoke about the “hard decision” not to compete in breaststroke or individual medley events at his home European Aquatics Championships. At a crowded press conference at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, where the seven-day swimming programme starts tomorrow, the 24-year-old four-times Paris 2024 champion explained how he had been dealing with the adductor muscle strain he incurred while competing in the 200m breaststroke at the French championships in late June. “I injured myself at trials a month ago”, Marchand, who will now take part only in the 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle, told European Aquatics. “I tried to get better and better and just heal as fast as possible. “I really wanted to do the breaststroke and the IM this week. But two, three weeks ago I re-injured myself in practice so it was really hard. And also I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do the IM. “So I did an MRI three days ago, and it’s like 70 per cent healed. But it’s not enough, it’s still risky to do it and I didn’t want to ruin the whole week. “It was a pretty hard decision, but I decided to do a reduced schedule and any do butterfly and freestyle. “I think in two or three weeks it will be fine – so it’s pretty bad timing I would say! “So I am going to try and do better outside the pool. I need to prepare better, warm up better. There are a lot of things I can do better to not get another injury in the future.” Asked to reflect on how he felt coming to a first European Championships in the same city where he won his Olympic titles Marchand, who is based in Texas, responded: “I don’t think I can really compare with the Olympics but I am really excited to see how this pool will fill up with French supporters, to see how the noise will be, how we can use that energy to swim faster for the French team. “We had a meeting last night with the French team and we are just grateful for these Championships in Paris. I don’t think any French swimmers have had the chance to do Olympics and Europeans at home, so we feel very lucky to have that and we hope to do well.” Reflecting upon how he continues to motivate himself and what his new goals are in his career, he added: “I think it’s about more records for me, trying to do better and better and to getting faster in the water. I can also challenge myself with different events. I know I can do a lot of things still in this sport. “I’m pretty young too, so I’m really excited for what’s next. “And as for the Euros, it’s the first time I’m going to do it and I’m really excited for it and curious to see what I can do this week.” Double world women’s 100m freestyle champion Marrit Steenbergen of The Netherlands, who lowered the world record to 51.68 in Rome on June 27, commented: “I’m feeling pretty good. My season has given me confidence. I am doing some different events here so I am just curious to see what shape I am in. “My main goal is to enjoy what I am doing, because I know when I actually relax results will come. So I am mostly focused on being happy here.” Switzerland’s Noe Ponti, who won 100m butterfly bronze at the Paris 2024 Games, said: “It’s great to be back. I love Paris, it’s a great city. Two years ago was a bit disappointing for me so I hope to do better this time. “These are the most important races of the season. The races will be packed so there will be no room for making any big mistakes. “I want to see how fast I can swim. This year I tried some new training, did something different, so it’s going to be a good test.”Ponti added that he had been trying a different training routine this year, starting with a period of heavy work at high altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona. “I felt very tired for a couple of months, but since May I have started swimming better and better.” Asked about his French rival Maxime Grousset – who beat him to the world 50m and 100m butterfly titles in Singapore last summer but whose performance level here may be compromised by the fact that he is recovering from breaking a bone in his foot in June – Ponti replied: “I feel sorry for Maxime about his injury, but it doesn’t matter to me if he is injured or not. I cannot afford to focus on it or it might affect my own concentration and performance. “Of course Maxime and I have a personal history, but it is not just about us here. The fields in the butterfly are packed and there are lots of other talented swimmers coming up so we need to be on our best game here.” Hubert Kos reflected on the peak experience he had in the French capital two years ago when he secured the Olympic men’s 200m backstroke title at the La Defense Arena. “In Paris two years ago winning my gold medal was obviously my dream come true. It was the greatest moment of my entire life. And the funny thing is I have won a medal in every single competition except for the European Championships. “So winning a medal, or a gold medal, would be amazing in the 200m back obviously, so I am looking forward to Tuesday when that starts. “We’re trying out some new events here. We’re going to look at 200 butterfly and see how that goes. I haven’t done it in major competitions so far. It will be 50/50 – could be good, could be bad. So we’ll see how that goes. “I’m scheduled for six events so I need to
Paris 2026: Women’s preview – Steenbergen set for five events
Marrit Steenbergen could make the same kind of impact at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 as she did last December at the EA Short Course Championships in Lublin, where she earned five golds and set five European records. The 26-year-old Dutch swimmer, who retained her world 100m freestyle title last year and set a world record of 51.68 in that event on June 27 this year in Rome, is entered for five events – the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 100m backstroke. She is clearly favourite in the women’s 100m, the heats of which start of the opening day on Monday (August 10). Her nearest rivals appear likely to be Italy’s 19-year-old Sara Curtis, who has clocked 52.69 this year, her 21-year-old Dutch team-mate Milou Van Wijk, the European U23 50m and 100m freestyle champion who has recorded 52.91 this season and experienced home swimmer Beryl Gasteldello. In the 50m freestyle Steenbergen is equal second fastest with Curtis on 24.09, with top place in this year’s rankings going to Sweden’s 32-year-old triple Olympic champion Sarah Sjostrom, who returned to the sport in April this year at the age of 32 after giving birth to son Adrian in August 2025. Despite missing 20 months of training she is already back in contention to add to her current total of 28 European long course medals, which include 17 golds. Sjostrom clocked 23.86 for the women’s 50m freestyle at the Sette Colli International in Rome at the end of June, finishing second to Gretchen Walsh, who swam 23.55 to take 0.40 off the world record set by fellow American Kate Douglass nine days earlier. The encouraging fact for the Swede was that she was only 0.25 adrift of the world record of 23.61 she set in 2023. It was Sjostrom’s 2017 100m freestyle mark of 51.71 that Steenbergen surpassed in Rome this year. The Dutch swimmer stands third in this season’s European rankings for the 200m freestyle with a best of 1:56.02 in a list headed by Britain’s Freya Colbert on 1:54.34 and Czech swimmer Barbora Seemanova on 1:55.20. In the 50m backstroke, where Curtis set a European record of 27.07 in Rome on June 27, Steenbergen is sixth fastest. Britain’s Lauren Cox is second in the list on 27.15 from France’s Mary-Ambre Moluh on 27.20. Only Moluh has gone quicker in the 100m backstroke this year. The French athlete tops the rankings on 58.25, with Steenbergen on 58.33. She is sandwiched between Moluh and another home athlete, Pauline Mahieu, who has clocked 59.13. Meanwhile the 21-year-old rising force that is Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium is entered in five events, with the most likely spoils likely to be had for her in the 100m and 50m butterfly, where she is respectively world silver and world bronze medallist. Vanotterdijk is second in the 50m butterfly European list on 25.31, behind the 25.05 set by Sjostrom, while in the 100m butterfly she stands third on 56.74 behind Germany’s Angelina Kohler on 56.35 and Daria Klepikova of NAB on 56.42. The Belgian is eighth-ranked in the women’s 100m final on 53.62, and ninth-ranked in the 50m backstroke, where she has clocked 27.67. She also stands third in the 200m individual medley standings on 2:09.73 behind Britain’s Abbie Wood on 2:08.17 and Anastasia Gorbenko of Israel on 2:09.68, with Smith fourth on 2:10.32 and Walshe on 2:10.49. In the distance events Germany’s Isabel Gose is poised for further success after earning open water swimming golds in the Seine in the 3km knockout sprint and the mixed 4x1500m relay. Gose tops the rankings on 4:02.90 in the women’s 400m freestyle, where she will seek to regain the title she won in Rome four years ago, with her perennial rival Simone Quadarella second fastest on 4:03.44. In the 800m and the 1500m freestyle – the latter being the event in which she won bronze at the Paris 2024 Games – Gose is second in the rankings with her respective 2026 bests of 8:18.23 and 15:52.34, with Quadarella topping the list on 8:12.81 and 15:31.79. Lithuania’s 29-year-old London 2012 gold medallist and six-times world champion Ruta Meilutyte will seek her fourth European title in her signature event of the 50m breaststroke, where she tops the rankings on 29.54 ahead of Benedetta Pilato of Italy on 29.87 and Estonia’s 19-year-old Eneli Jefimova, who won the European 100m breaststroke title in 2024, on 30.02. Jefimova is fifth fastest ranked in the 100m breaststroke on 1:05.81 in a list headed by Great Britain’s double Commonwealth champion Angharad Evans on 1:04.96 and Germany’s current world champion Anna Elendt on 1:05.19. Evans also tops the pile in the women’s 200m breaststroke on 2:19.70 from NAB’s Evgeniia Chikunova on 2:19.96. Britain’s 16-year-old Amalie Smith, who retained her European junior 400m individual medley title in Munich before taking silver in that event and bronze in the women’s 200m IM at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, heads the 400m IM entries on 4:35.18, with Ireland’s Ellen Walshe on 4:35.32 and Hungary’s 17-year-old Vivien Jackl on 4:37.47. Great Britain’s Keanna Macinnes, who won Commonwealth 100m and 200m butterfly for Scotland last month, tops the list at the longer distance having clocked 2:06.76 for her home medal. Joint second behind her on 2:07.47 are Paolo Borrelli of Italy and Denmark’s Helena Bach, who won world silver and European gold in 2024. NAA’s Anastasiya Shkurdai leads the list in the women’s 200m backstroke from Estella Tonrath Nollgen of Spain on 2:08.03. Turkiye’s Defne Kurt heads the list of athletes in the women’s 50m freestyle para on 27.23 from two Dutch para-swimmers – Lisa Kruger on 28.24 and Florianne Bultje on 28.66. Kurt also tops the qualifiers for the women’s 100m freestyle para on 59.08 from Kruger on 1:00.68 and Portugal’s Susana Veiga on 1:04.19. Click here for the event page, which includes all start lists and results. Click here to watch all of the action on Eurovision Sport. Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
Paris 2026: Men’s swimming preview – Marchand drops to two events
Leon Marchand, named yesterday for four events in the swimming which starts tomorrow at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026, has reduced his programme to two events. The 24-year-old French sporting icon has withdrawn from the 200m and 400m individual medley, two of the four individual events he won at Paris 2024, but remains on the official entry list for the men’s 200m butterfly – in which he won another one of his Olympic golds – and the men’s 400m freestyle, which is relatively new territory for him. Both the medley events involve breaststroke, which is what he was competing in at the French Championships in late June when he strained his left adductor. He has since told L’Equipe that he aggravated the injury three weeks after the Championships and had continuing concerns about swimming breaststroke. Marchand, who won his Paris 2024 200m butterfly title in an Olympic record of 1:51.21, tops the European list in this event with 1:52.57, from Poland’s Krzystof Chmielewski on 1:52.64 and Italy’s Albert Razzetti on 1:54.47. If Marchand is to win his first senior European medal, it looks like it will have to be in the butterfly. In the men’s 400m freestyle, where the US-based Marchand set his personal best of 3:44.70 at last December’s US Open in Austin, Texas, he stands ninth in a list topped by Germany’s world and Olympic champion Lukas Martens, who set a world record of 3:39.96 last year and has clocked 3:40.61 this year. The top echelon also includes Germany’s Paris 2024 open water swimming silver medallist Oliver Klemet, who has clocked 3:43.14 this year, Great Britain’s James Guy, on 3:44.04, and Germany’s 19-year-old Johannes Liebmann, who has swum 3:44.59. Liebmann tops the list in the 800m freestyle thanks to the European record of 7:37.94 he produced in Stockholm on April 12 this year. One place behind him is team-mate Sven Schwarz, the previous holder of the European record, whose mark of 7:38.12 in last year’s German championships lowered the record of 7:38.19 set by Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen in winning the Paris 2024 title. Klemet, a third German distance powerhouse, is third fastest on 7:44.61 with Victor Johannson of Sweden on 7:44.81 and Wiffen on 7:45.17. In the men’s 1500m freestyle Schwarz leads the way on 14:35.69 from Klemet on 14:39.03 and Liebmann on 14:39.67. Wiffen is one place below this redoubtable German trio on 14:44.70. Martens will also be contesting a spectacular-looking men’s 200m freestyle, where he is the second fastest this year on 1:44.25. Romania’s Paris 2024 200m freestyle champion David Popovici tops this year’s world rankings for this event with the 1:44.48 he clocked at the Sette Colli meeting in Rome on June 28. The 21-year-old from Bucharest looks odds-on to win a third consecutive European title in this event. But he will not be able to relax given the quality of the rest of a field which will also include Britain’s Matt Richards, who finished just 0.02 behind him in the Paris 2024 final and is third fastest European this year on 1:44.77. Also in contention will be James Guy, who has combined with Richards in world and Olympic 4x200m freestyle victories, Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio and Germany’s Lukas Martens. Popovici also heads the field in the 100m freestyle thanks to the European record of 46.51 – just 0.11 off Pan Zhanle’s Paris 2024 world record – he set at last summer’s World Aquatics Championships. But the Romanian will have serious contenders in the form of NAB’s Egor Kornev, who has clocked 46.96 this year, and Richards, who has recorded 47.53. France’s world 50m and 100m butterfly champion Maxime Grousset is third on the list with 47.50, but his case has been altered by the injury he picked up in training early in June when he broke a bone in his left foot. Grousset was cautious about his prospects when speaking at the Eiffel Tower press conference marking 15 days to go until the start of the European Aquatics Championships. Kornev meanwhile is favourite in the men’s 50m freestyle, where he has clocked 21.06 this year. Andrej Barna of Serbia is second fastest on 21.44, with Grousset third on 21.51. It remains to be seen what level Grousset will be able to reach in the 50m and 100m butterfly. While he tops the list for both events with 22.48 and 49.62 respectively, the Swiss rival whom he beat to both titles in Singapore last year, Noe Ponti, will be eager to make use of any signs of weakness. Ponti stands second in both lists on 22.51 and 49.63. Not that either event lacks for talent. Kornev is third in the 50m butterfly listings on 22.59 ahead of Italy’s Olympic 100m backstroke champion Thomas Ceccon on 22.67. While in the 100m butterfly Ceccon is fourth in the rankings on 50.41 sandwiched between two world class Hungarian talents. Kristof Milak, the Tokyo 2020 champion at 200m butterfly and Paris 2024 gold medallist in this event, is ranked third with a time of 50.22, while Hubert Kos, the Olympic and world 200m backstroke champion, is fifth on 50.55. Kos is ranked third in the men’s 100m backstroke on 52.20 in a list topped by Ceccon on 51.80 and France’s world 100m and 200m backstroke bronze medallist Yohann Ndoye-Brouard on 51.92. He tops the 200m backstroke lists with his European record of 1:53.19 from Singapore, with Greece’s Apostolos Siskos second on 1:54.12 and Ndoye-Brouard third on 1:54.47. In the 50m backstroke Kos is ranked ninth on 24.50 in a list topped by NAB’s Kliment Kolesnikov on 23.68 and Pavel Samusenko on 24.12, with Great Britain’s Oliver Morgan third on 24.38. And in the absence of Marchand, Kos tops the pile in the men’s 200m individual medley on 1:55.34 from Great Britain’s Commonwealth champion Duncan Scott on 1:55.51 and NAB’s Mikhail Shcherbakov on 1:57.12. NAB’s Ilia Borodin heads the men’s 400m IM field on 4:09.06 from Great Britain’s Max Litchfield on 4:11.41. Having been away from long course competition
Paris 2026: Marchand and Grousset named in entry list for European Aquatics Championships swimming programme just released
French swimming icon Leon Marchand, who has been nursing an injured right adductor since pulling out of the national championships in June, has been named in four events at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 swimming programme, which will run from August 10 to 16 in the Olympic Aquatic Centre. The 24-year-old quadruple Olympic champion is on the official entry list – linked below – for the men’s 400m freestyle, 200m butterfly and the 200m and 400m individual medley. There had been doubts concerning his ability to compete in breaststroke, the event in which he was swimming in St Etienne when his problem with the adductor emerged. But it seems Marchand feels confident enough to compete in his signature event, the 400m IM. His confirmation in the relatively fresh event of the 400m freestyle is also intriguing. Marchand’s team-mate and fellow world champion Maxime Grousset, who broke a bone in his left foot early in June, is also named to take part in four events – the men’s 50m Freestyle,100m freestyle, 50m Butterfly and 100m Butterfly. Meanwhile Sweden’s 32-year-old three-times Olympic champion Sarah Sjostrom, who returned to the sport in April this year at the age of 32 after giving birth to son Adrian in August 2025, is named in the women’s 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly. Click here for the full entry list for European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 swimming, which will run from August 10 to 16 at the Olympic Aquatics Centre Click here for the event page, which includes all start lists and results. Click here to watch all of the action on Eurovision Sport. Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics