By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam
European Swimming Championships
August 10-16, 2026 Paris, France — Olympic Aquatics Centre LCM (50 Meters) Meet Information Meet Central SwimSwam Preview IndexBY THE NUMBERS – WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY
World Record: 2:01.65 – Summer McIntosh, Canada (2026) European Record: 2:04.27 – Katinka Hosszu, Hungary (2009) Championship Record: 2:04.79 – Mireia Belmonte, Spain (2014) 2025 World Champion: Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2:01.99 2024 European Champion: Helena Rosendahl Bach (DEN), 2:07.88The women’s 200 fly has a new world record holder in Summer McIntosh, who posted a time of 2:01.65 at Canadian Trials to take down Liu Zige’s record of 2:01.81 from 2009. In Europe, however, the event is a little weaker. Alys Thomas was the last woman to break 2:06, doing so at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in a time of 2:05.45, and only one swimmer is under that mark so far this season.
MacInnes Hunting Her First Title
Keanna MacInnes was the fastest swimmer in the field so far this season with her 2:07.02 from the Aquatics GB Championships, but knocked another quarter of a second off at the Commonwealth Games. She won silver there in a time of 2:06.76, a new Scottish record and over half a second faster than anyone else from this field has been so far in 2026.
She was a finalist in this event four years ago, but fell to 6th in the final after moving through the heats and semi-finals in 2nd. She added time at the World Championships last year to miss the semi-finals, but placed 9th at the Paris Olympics one year before in 2:08.04.
This season has been her best yet in the 200 fly. She has swum four of her fastest five times in 2026, all of them between 2:07.10 and 2:06.76. She leads Paola Borrelli and Helena Rosendahl Bach by seven tenths of a second this season, and has the most front-end speed of anyone in the field with her 57.33 speed in the 100 fly.
MacInnes won her first international medals at the European U23 Championships in 2023, winning gold in the 100 fly and 200 fly. She is just coming off her first senior medals at the Commonwealth Games, and has the potential to add one more here.
The Challengers
Helena Rosendahl Bach and Paola Borelli are tied in the season rankings this year at 2:07.47, a lifetime best for the latter but nearly a second slower than her lifetime best for the former.
Rosendahl Bach is the more decorated of the two, winning silver at the World Championships in 2024 and gold at the European Championships that same year in a time of 2:07.88. She has European silver medals from the 2022 long course championships and 2021 and 2025 short course championships too, and has been one of the most consistent European swimmers in the women’s 200 fly recently.
She was the top European finisher at the World Championships last year, placing 4th in 2:07.43, and placed 4th at the 2024 Olympic Games in 2:07.11 after setting a national record of 2:06.65 in the semi-finals.
Borelli, in contrast, has just one senior international competition on her resume, the 2025 World University Games. She won 200 fly bronze there in a new lifetime best of 2:08.00, a PB by nearly a second, and has dropped another half second this year after clocking 2:07.47 at the Italian Championships.
She was out in 59.77 in that swim, falling back on the second half of the race, but if she can hold on down the stretch her lead could be too great to reel in. MacInnes will likely go out fast as well, but Bach is more of a back-half racer.
Of the two, Borrelli is on the better improvement curve. But Bach has shown she knows what it takes to make the podium. A lot could depend on Borrelli’s back half, but these two should both feel confident of winning some hardware.
Podium Potential
Emily Richards won World Junior gold in 2017, but did not better the 2:07.74 she clocked there until 2023. She qualified for the senior World Championships that year with a swim of 2:07.33 at the British Championships, and placed 10th in 2:08.66 in Fukuoka that summer.
She made the team again in 2025, making the final and finishing 7th in SIngapore last summer, and was back in 2:07-range with a 2:07.70 at the Aquatics GB Championships in April. Richards was slightly slower at the Commonwealth Games in 2:09.12, but will be hoping for a repeat of the European Short Course Championships in December where she placed 5th in 2:04.62.
Laura Cabanes Garzas placed 12th at the World Championships last summer in 2:10.07, just under a second slower than the 2:09.23 she swam at the Spanish Championships the month before. This season, she dropped a second to clock 2:08.11 at the AP Race International in May, and followed that up with a 2:08.38 at the Barcelona stop of the Mare Nostrum tour. She made the final at the European Short Course Championship, finishing 6th, and, like Richards, will be hoping for a repeat in Paris.
Ellen Walshe has only moved into the 200 fly in the last couple of years, but now owns the Irish record in long course (2:07.48) and short course (2:02.36). She posted the former time in the semi-finals at the World Championships last summer, before placing 8th in the final in a slightly slower 2:08.34.
That was her first international 200 fly appearance, and her second was even better as she won European short course gold in 2:03.24 in December. She clocked 2:08.02 at the Sette Colli, half a second faster than the 2:08.66 in-season best she posted last season, and could be a serious podium threat.
Georgia Damasioti is the one swimmer of these four to have won a European long course medal in the fly, but hers came in the 100 rather than the 200. She won silver in the 100 fly two years ago, but did also win gold at the European U23 Championships last summer in a new Greek record of 2:09.21.
She dropped nearly a second the next month at the World Championships, placing 10th in 2:08.39, and made the final at the European Short Course Championships in December.
Damasioti has been a couple of seconds slower so far this season with a 2:10.20, but has a knack for swimming her best at the right time.
Breaking Through?
Boroka Kertesz will be the youngest member of this field, only turning 16 the week before the competition, but the World Junior Championships semi-finalist has dropped over a second and a half this season and comes in with a season best of 2:10.36. With youth on her side, she will be one to keep an eye on.
Vivien Jackl is another Hungarian youngster who has set a lifetime best this season, breaking 2:10 for the first time to win European Junior gold in 2:09.42 last month. This is her first season trying this event out, but she will have a busy schedule in Paris and this final comes in the very final session.
Anita Gastaldi broke 2:10 for the first time with a 2:09.94 at the Lausanne Swim Cup in March, but placed 9th at the Italian Championships in 2:13.67. She has only added the event to her schedule this season, but is also coming off a bronze medal and an Italian record of 2:04.07 at the European Short Course Championships. Gastaldi swam the event at the Sette Colli in June, touching in 2:10.60, and will probably get a swim here as she is already on the Italian roster. Her 19-year-old teammate Giada Alzatta will join her, having been named to Italy’s team after clocking 2:10.87 at the Sette Colli.
SwimSwam’s Picks
Place Name Nation Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Keanna MacInnes GBR 2:06.76 2:06.76 2 Paola Borrelli ITA 2:07.47 2:07.47 3 Helena Rosendahl Bach DEN 2:07.47 2:06.65 4 Ellen Walshe IRL 2:08.02 2:07.48 5 Georgia Damasioti GRE 2:10.20 2:08.39 6 Emily Richards GBR 2:07.70 2:07.33 7 Laura Cabanes Garzas ESP 2:08.11 2:08.11 8 Vivien Jackl HUN 2:09.42 2:09.42Dark Horse – Lana Pudar (BIH)
With no entry lists published yet, it isn’t certain whether the 2022 European champion will be competing or not. If she is, she has the ability to make a mockery of her season ranking of 32nd among European women. She has been just 2:12.17 this season, but owns the Bosnian record in 2:06.26 and won silver two years ago in 2:08.15. She is still just 20 years old and is coming off a year of training at Virginia, so a return to form is not out of the question
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