By Giusy Cisale on SwimSwam
2026 EUROPEAN AQUATICS OPEN WATER SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP
August, 04-08 2026 Paris, France Meet Information Meet Central Live ResultsTwo years after the Olympic Games, international swimming returns to Paris for the 2026 European Championships. Before the pool competition begins on August 10, the first swimming medals will be awarded in the Seine.
The open water events will take place from August 4-8 near the Île aux Cygnes, on a course between the Pont de Grenelle and the Pont de Bir-Hakeim. The program includes the 10km, 5km, 3km knockout sprint and mixed 4×1500m relay.
The field brings together many of the leading swimmers from the most recent Olympic, World and European Championships. Florian Wellbrock and Kristof Rasovszky headline the men’s competition, while Gregorio Paltrinierireturns to the river where he earned Olympic bronze in 2024.
On the women’s side, Ginevra Taddeucci will contest all three individual events after winning silver in both the 5km and 10km at the 2025 World Championships.
The venue will inevitably revive questions surrounding water quality, which became a major issue during the Paris Olympics. August 6 has been designated as a contingency day, allowing organizers to adjust the schedule if water or weather conditions prevent safe racing.
Open Water Swimming Schedule
All times are listed in Paris local time (CEST) and U.S. Eastern Time (ET).
Tuesday, August 4
Men’s 10km — 10:00 a.m. local / 4:00 a.m. ET Women’s 10km — 2:30 p.m. local / 8:30 a.m. ETWednesday, August 5
Men’s 5km — 10:00 a.m. local / 4:00 a.m. ET Women’s 5km — 2:30 p.m. local / 8:30 a.m. ETThursday, August 6
Contingency dayFriday, August 7
Women’s knockout sprint — 10:00 a.m. local / 4:00 a.m. ET Men’s knockout sprint — 3:00 p.m. local / 9:00 a.m. ETSaturday, August 8
Mixed 4×1500m relay — 10:00 a.m. local / 4:00 a.m. ETMen’s 10km: Wellbrock, Rasovszky And Paltrinieri Renew Their Rivalry
The men’s 10km brings together three swimmers who have defined international open water racing across the last several seasons.
Florian Wellbrock arrives in Paris after sweeping the open water program at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore. The German won the 10km, 5km and knockout sprint before helping his country take the mixed relay title.
His victory in the Olympic distance marked his second World Championship title in the event, six years after his first in 2019. He will compete in all four events in Paris, giving him several medal opportunities but also leaving him with a demanding five-day schedule.
The reigning Olympic champion, Kristof Rasovszky, remains one of Wellbrock’s primary challengers. The Hungarian won both the 10km and the inaugural knockout sprint at the 2025 European Championships in Stari Grad. In the 10km, he finished ahead of French swimmers Logan Fontaine and Marc-Antoine Olivier.
Rasovszky will be joined by training partner David Betlehem, the Olympic bronze medalist from Paris 2024 and the third-place finisher in last year’s European knockout sprint. Hunor Kovacs Seres gives Hungary another contender across all three individual events.
Gregorio Paltrinieri will also return to the Seine after winning Olympic bronze there two years ago. The Italian added World Championship silver in the 10km in Singapore, finishing behind Wellbrock, and won his national title in Piombino earlier this season.
Paltrinieri is entered in the 10km, 5km and knockout sprint. His repeated meetings with Wellbrock and Rasovszky have become one of the defining rivalries in the sport, extending across three Olympic cycles and every major international championship.
Italy will also have Marcello Guidi and Andrea Filadelli in the 10km. Filadelli has been a contender in the overall World Cup standings, while Guidi has established himself as a regular member of Italy’s international open water roster.
Host nation France will again rely on Fontaine and Olivier, who completed the podium behind Rasovszky at the 2025 European Championships.
Fontaine made significant progress throughout last season and will attempt to capitalize on home conditions. Olivier brings more than a decade of international experience, including an Olympic bronze medal from Rio 2016.
The field also includes Germany’s Oliver Klemet, who earned Olympic silver behind Rasovszky in the Seine in 2024, and Great Britain’s Hector Pardoe, a two-time World Championship medalist in the 10km.
Neutral athletes Vladimir Ivanov and Aleksandr Stepanov are entered in multiple distances, while Poland’s Bartosz Kapala will contest all three individual events after winning a leg of the European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Cup.
Men’s 5km: Paltrinieri Defends His European Title
Gregorio Paltrinieri enters the men’s 5km as the defending European champion.
He won the 2025 title in Stari Grad ahead of David Betlehem and Kristof Rasovszky, interrupting Hungary’s control of the other individual men’s events.
The same three swimmers will meet again in Paris, joined by reigning world champion Florian Wellbrock and France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier.
Italy’s lineup also includes Domenico Acerenza, who has gradually returned to the international level following an extended absence. Acerenza won the Italian 5km title in Piombino, providing another indication of his progress during the first half of the season.
The shorter distance leaves less time to recover from positioning mistakes. Swimmers will need to remain near the front of the pack and avoid losing contact around the buoys, particularly in a field featuring several athletes with proven closing speed.
Men’s Knockout Sprint: Three Rounds And No Margin For Error
The knockout sprint is contested over three stages of 1500m, 1000m and 500m, with the field reduced after each round.
Kristof Rasovszky won the first European title in the event in 2025, edging Logan Fontaine and David Betlehem in a close final.
Wellbrock, Paltrinieri and Klemet are also entered in Paris. The format alters some of the traditional open water dynamics, rewarding not only endurance but also repeated acceleration, rapid recovery and precise positioning through every round.
Paltrinieri won the Italian title in the event and placed second at the Setubal World Cup. Those results make him a contender in the new format, although the knockout will be his third individual race in four days.
Wellbrock, meanwhile, enters as the reigning world champion after completing the event as part of his clean sweep in Singapore.
Women’s 10km: Taddeucci Faces Mihalyvari-Farkas Again
The women’s 10km appears more open than the men’s race, with several swimmers possessing realistic medal prospects.
Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas will defend the title she won at the 2025 European Championships in only her second international 10km appearance. Better known earlier in her career for her pool results—including the 2022 European title in the 400 IM—the Hungarian moved from 11th place late in the race to defeat Ginevra Taddeucci in Stari Grad.
Taddeucci returns to Paris after winning 2024 Olympic bronze and silver medals in both the 5km and 10km at the 2025 World Championships. She also won the overall World Cup title last year, reinforcing a level of consistency that has placed her on the podium at nearly every major recent competition.
She will contest every individual race in Paris.
Mihalyvari-Farkas will be joined by Bettina Fabian, another versatile swimmer with international experience across the full open water program. Their presence gives Hungary multiple tactical options in the second half of the race.
Monaco’s Lisa Pou is another leading contender. Pou won bronze in the 10km at the 2025 World Championships and is entered in all three individual events.
Spain brings a deep group led by Angela Martinez Guillen, Candela Sanchez Lora and Clara Martinez de Salinas Pena. Martinez Guillen has established herself across both the Olympic distance and the shorter open water events.
Host nation France will look to Caroline Jouisse and Ines Delacroix, both of whom are entered throughout the individual program. Their familiarity with the venue could be useful, although racing at home will bring its own pressure.
Great Britain’s Amelie Blocksidge and the Netherlands’ Hedwig Bolt are among the younger swimmers to watch. The neutral field includes Polina Koziakina, a medalist at the 2025 and 2026 European Junior Championships, and Ekaterina Sorokina.
Women’s 5km: Another European Title Defense For Taddeucci
The women’s 5km will renew the rivalry between Ginevra Taddeucci and Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas.
Taddeucci won the 2025 European title by fewer than two seconds over the Hungarian. Both have since confirmed their ability to contend across the 5km and 10km at the international level.
The field will again include Lisa Pou, Caroline Jouisse. Germany’s Julia Ackermann, the European junior knockout sprint champion, will be another swimmer to follow.
Unlike the 10km, the shorter distance offers limited room for a conservative opening. A sustained increase in pace during the middle of the race could split the field before the final buoy, placing an even greater premium on positioning and efficient lines.
Women’s Knockout Sprint: Fabian Defends The Inaugural Crown
Bettina Fabian won the first European women’s knockout sprint title in 2025, finishing ahead of Spain’s Paula Otero Fernandez.
Both will return in Paris. Fabian brings greater experience in traditional open water events, while Otero Fernandez has already shown that her speed and race management suit the elimination format.
Taddeucci, Pou, Jouisse and Delacroix are also entered, along with Poland’s Klaudia Tarasiewicz, a 2025 European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Cup leg winner.
Germany can call upon Isabel Gose, a world-class pool swimmer who helped her country win the mixed relay title at the 2025 World Championships. Her speed and ability to handle repeated efforts could make her particularly dangerous over the shorter knockout stages.
Mixed Relay: Hungary, Italy And France Were Separated By Two Seconds In 2025
The mixed 4×1500m relay will close the open water program on August 8.
Hungary won the 2025 European title with Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas, Bettina Fabian, David Betlehem and Kristof Rasovszky. Italy and France completed the podium, with all three teams separated by only two seconds.
Betlehem and Rasovszky are again available to anchor the Hungarian team. Italy can build its lineup around Paltrinieri and Taddeucci, while France has Fontaine and Olivier available on the men’s side, with Jouisse and Delacroix among its leading women.
Germany also has the pieces to contend for the title, with Wellbrock, Klemet, Gose and Ackermann all entered in Paris.
As the 2025 race demonstrated, relay results can depend as much on athlete order, exchange positioning and tactical decisions as on individual credentials. With each swimmer covering only 1500m, there is little time to recover from a poor exchange or an early gap.
Back To The Seine
European open water swimming returns to the same river that hosted the Olympic races two years ago. The setting carries considerable symbolic value, but it also brings back the water-quality concerns that surrounded Paris 2024.
European Aquatics has since announced a series of measures agreed upon after receiving feedback and proposals from the athletes’ representative.
Organizers will be required to follow the health and safety protocols and contingency plans developed by the Paris Local Organizing Committee and presented to athletes, coaches and team leaders during online information sessions.
Athletes will also be permitted to select an independent water-quality analysis provider to verify the data released by European Aquatics and the Local Organizing Committee. European Aquatics will cover the cost of that independent testing.
A dedicated task force will be created to recommend possible changes to current and future health and safety regulations. European Aquatics has also committed to reimbursing reasonable medical expenses if qualified personnel determine that an athlete’s illness was directly caused by participation in an official competition or training session in the Seine during the championships.
However, the type and amount of any reimbursement must be agreed upon with European Aquatics, under the guidance of qualified personnel, before treatment begins.
From a sporting perspective, Paris renews several of the central rivalries in modern open water swimming. Wellbrock, Rasovszky and Paltrinieri will meet across the men’s program, while Taddeucci faces Mihalyvari-Farkas, Fabian, Pou and the leading French swimmers in the women’s events.
The championship will begin with the 10km, but the cumulative demands of three individual events and the relay may prove just as important as any single race. Five days after the first athletes enter the Seine, Europe’s deepest and most versatile open water teams will be the ones best positioned to leave Paris with multiple medals.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Paris 2026 Open Water Preview: The World’s Best Return To The Seine
Hence then, the article about paris 2026 open water preview the world s best return to the seine was published today ( ) and is available on swimswam ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Paris 2026 Open Water Preview: The World’s Best Return To The Seine )
Also on site :