By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
2026 European Swimming Championships
August 10-16, 2026 Paris, France — Olympic Aquatics Centre LCM (50 Meters) Meet Information Meet Central SwimSwam Preview IndexBy The Numbers – Men’s 100 Butterfly
World Record: 49.45 – Caeleb Dressel, United States (2021) European Record: 49.62 – Maxime Grousset, France (2025) Championship Record: 50.18 – Kristof Milak, Hungary (2021) 2025 World Champion: Maxime Grousset, France – 49.62 2024 European Champion: Kristof Milak, Hungary – 50.82The men’s 100 butterfly has quickly developed into one of the “must watch races” on the Olympic and World Championship level. Seven men have broken 50 seconds in their careers and three of them will be at these 2026 European Championships, maintaining its status as one of the most exciting races on the championship schedule even without the North Americans and Australians in attendance.
The 49-Second Club
Let’s kick things off with Kristof Milak, the reigning Olympic champion. He is the only swimmer at these championships who has broken 50 seconds from a flat start on multiple occasions. He did so most recently at the 2024 Olympics, where he used a monstrous 26.50 closing split to power himself from fourth at the turn into first at the finish with a 49.90. His lifetime best came three years earlier, when he swam 49.68 for silver at the 2021 Olympics behind Caeleb Dressel. That swim ranks him as the third-fastest performer in event history.
Milak has established himself as the man to beat this season. He owns the fastest season-best with his 50.22 performance from Hungarian Nationals. He was just a few tenths off that time later this spring at Sette Colli, where he swam 50.47 and beat one of his main rivals for gold at European Championships, Noe Ponti, head-to-head. It also seems like this will be Milak’s main focus at these Championships. He withdrew from the final of the 200 fly at the Hungarian Championships in April, indicating it’s unlikely he swims it at Euros.
Of course, there’s a difference between an in-season race and a championship final with a gold medal on the line. Ponti has touched the wall first many times at the short-course meters World and European Championships, but he’s still searching for his first gold medal on the long-course senior international stage.
He’s also looking to write a new chapter in Paris after taking fourth and fifth in the 100 and 200 butterfly at the 2024 Olympics. Ponti told European Aquatics that he’s grown to appreciate his achievements in Paris but the “worst moment” of the Games was right after the 100 butterfly final. In the same interview Ponti also acknowledged he’s “never been very lucky at European Championships because of illnesses and different setbacks, so hopefully this year I’ll finally be able to compete at 100% and show my best level.”
To date, his best level is the 49.83 he swam for silver at the 2025 World Championships which ranks him fifth all time. He’s currently ranked eighth-fastest in the season’s global rankings—but second among European swimmers—with the 50.59 he swam at Sette Colli.
Maxime Grousset is the final member of the 49-second club that will be on deck next week in Paris. That was in question for a while though—the 27-year-old fractured his foot during training, forcing him to withdraw from the French Championships. Though Grousset did not compete, he earned a spot on France’s championship roster through a qualification procedure exemption.
It’s unknown what form he will bring to Paris only about two months removed from the initial injury. But when healthy and on form, Grousset is one of the three main challengers for gold in this event. Like Ponti, he must have been disappointed to finish off the 100 butterfly podium at the 2024 Olympics—he touched 5th overall—but over the past three years he has established himself as one of the major forces in this race. He is the 2023 and 2025 World Champion, earning the latter in a blazing 49.62 that rattled the world record and made him the second-fastest man in event history. This year, he’s been as fast as 50.59, which makes him the second-fastest European this season. However, given that he clocked that time at the Autin Pro Swim prior to his injury, we’ll have to wait and see whether he’ll be recovered enough to hang with Milak and Ponti.
Pushing The Pace
The other swimmers in the field won’t be content to just let Milak, Ponti, and Grousset take the medal spots; there are plenty of athletes looking to disrupt the top three. Germany’s Kaii Winkler is one of the best positioned swimmers to break onto the podium. He is the only other European swimmer that’s been faster than 51 seconds this season, clocking 50.92 at the Indianapolis Pro Swim.
That was a significant swim for Winkler, who told SwimSwam after the race he’s “made some pretty big adjustments in the weight room.” It was his first time under 51 seconds in his career and also marked his first German record, breaking the long-standing 51.19 mark Steffen Deibler set in 2013. Though Grousset’s injury certainly leaves question marks as to how he’ll be able to perform in Paris, in many ways Winkler is the big unknown in this race: a young swimmer on the rise that’s thrown down a fast in-season swim that could challenge for the podium if he has another big drop in store on a full taper.
Winkler rounds out the group of four that have broken 51 seconds this season, but there are plenty more swimmers in the field that have lifetime bests in that range including Thomas Ceccon, Hubert Kos, Roman Shevlyakov, Simon Bucher, and Jakub Majerski.
If we’re keeping the theme of question marks going, it’s up in the air whether Ceccon or Kos will swim this race (a psych sheet should help answer this question). Ceccon has gotten interested in this race at the championship level recently; he finished eighth in the 2025 World Championship final and popped his 50.42 lifetime best in the preceding semifinals. Kos’ lifetime best is a 50.55 from 2025 Hungarian Nationals and was lights out in the short course yards version of this race at the 2026 NCAA Championships.
Both have swum the race this season; Kos’ season best is 51.31 and Ceccon’s is 51.43. Both swimmers could be in the heart of the action in any final. But both are such versatile athletes the main question is about whether they will swim the race at all. Both would have to contend with doubles; the men’s 200 backstroke and 100 butterfly semifinals are on the same day as is the 100 butterfly final and the 50 backstroke semifinals. Not the worst doubles to take on, but nevertheless something that one or both could want to avoid. Ceccon will also likely have lots of relay duties; the mixed 4×100 medley relay final is in the same session as the 100 butterfly semifinals.
Shevlyakov came close to breaking 51 seconds at this spring’s Russian Championships. He swam a 51.15, getting within a half-second of his lifetime best 50.70 from the 2025 Russian Cup in Kazan. He’s a safe bet to reach the final.
Bucher and Majerski were part of the all-European podium at the 2024 World Championships, winning silver and bronze respectively behind Diogo Ribeiro. Later that year, Majerski added another bronze medal to his collection at 2024 European Championships, sharing the podium with a Milak-Kos 1-2 finish for Hungary. Majerski’s lifetime best is a 50.92; he’s been off that so far this season. In fact, his 52.01 season-best means he isn’t the fastest Polish swimmer this year as Ksawery Masiuk swam 51.67 to beat him at Polish Nationals.
Bucher has also been quiet this season. He and Majerski finished 10th and 11th at 2024 Olympics after standing on the podium at 2024 World Championships. Bucher got back to the final at the 2025 World Championships, taking seventh (50.92). He clocked his lifetime best one round earlier with a 50.88 which is also the Austrian national record.
More Names To Watch
The British duo of Edward Mildred and Jacob Peters are just rolling off the Commonwealth Games. Their season bests still come from the 2026 GB Championships, where Mildred swam a lifetime best 51.02 and Peters a 51.34. They swam 51.59 and 52.72 at Commonwealth Games, respectively, which leaves the door open for European Championships to be their bigger focus meet of the summer.
Ribeiro swam his lifetime best 51.17 to win the 2024 world title in national record time. He won double gold in the 50 and 100 butterfly at those World Championships, winning Portugal’s first senior long-course World Championship swimming medals. He missed the final at the 2025 World Championships but has been 51.81 this season.
Italy’s Michele Busa and Germany’s Luca Armbruster have also been in the 51-mid range this season. Busa swam 51.57 at Sette Colli, which was just five-hundredths from the lifetime best 51.52 he swam last year. Armbruster is just three-hundredths off that pace this season with a 51.60 in prelims at German Nationals. That puts him within a half-second of the 51.21 lifetime best he swam last season.
SwimSwam Picks
Place Swimmer Nation Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Kristof Milak Hungary 50.22 49.68 2 Noe Ponti Switzerland 50.59 49.83 3 Maxime Grousset France 50.95 49.62 4 Thomas Ceccon Italy 51.43 50.42 5 Hubert Kos Hungary 51.31 50.55 6 Kaii Winkler Germany 50.92 50.92 7 Roman Shevlyakov Russia 51.15 50.70 8 Simon Bucher Austria – 50.88Dark Horse: Ksawery Masiuk, Poland – We already gave some airtime to Masiuk; he’s the fastest Polish swimmer in this event this season, beating Majerski at Polish Nationals with a 51.67. Masiuk had a quiet yards season while training at the University of Texas. It will be interesting to see whether the training clicks in for long-course and can propel him to new heights.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 European Championships Previews: Clash Of The Titans In The Men’s 100 Butterfly
Hence then, the article about 2026 european championships previews clash of the titans in the men s 100 butterfly 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 ( 2026 European Championships Previews: Clash Of The Titans In The Men’s 100 Butterfly )
Also on site :