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 4×200 FREESTYLE
World Record: 7:37.50 – Australia (2023) European Record: 7:45.51 – Great Britain (2009) Championship Record: 7:50.53 – Italy (2014) 2025 World Champion: Australia, 7:39.35 2024 European Champion: Israel, 7:51.83The women’s 4×200 free relay European Championship record stands at just 7:50.53, set by Italy 12 years ago. That looks in serious danger this year, with Hungary faster than that to place 4th at the World Championships last summer and Great Britain coming in with a season add-up of 7:46.06.
There has not been a nation which has truly established itself at the European level in this event recently, with three different winners from the last three editions. Great Britain were the last team to win back-to-back titles, doing so in 2018 and 2021, and, just like on the men’s side, look to have an advantage in depth that may prove difficult to overcome.
The Contenders
Four of the 11 fastest European swimmers this season are from Great Britain, with Freya Colbert leading the way in 1:54.34. Freya Anderson (1:57.00), Abbie Wood (1:57.23), and Leah Schlosshan (1:57.49) are the other three, with that quartet winning silver at the Commonwealth Games in a time of 7:50.10
All four swimmers did look off the pace at the Commonwealth Games, but if that 7:50.10 is the lower end of what they can deliver then they are strong contenders to top the podium. Freya Colbert is the only likely leadoff leg to have broken 1:57 this season and could give them an unassailable lead.
Theodora Taylor and Amalie Smith are likely prelims swimmers, having been 1:58.29 and 1:59.49 this season, respectively, and this looks like a team that should break 7:50. That would be faster than the winning time at any previous European Championships.
Hungary are the only European nation to have beaten Great Britain in this relay in the last four seasons, finishing one spot ahead of them at the 2025 World Championships, and this could be the year that they win their first European title since 2021.
Germany has four swimmers in the 1:57s this season and may be the strongest challengers. Maya Tobehn has dropped three seconds to lead them this season in 1:57.25, while Isabel Gose has the fastest personal best in 1:56.66.
Linda Roth (1:57.52) and 2024 individual bronze medalist Nicole Maier (1:57.85) will probably join them in the team in the final, with only half of the team from the 2024 Olympic Games returning.
Germany placed 10th there in 7:55.57, with no splits under 1:58.5. With what looks like their strongest and deepest group for two decades, the national record of 7:50.82 could be in danger if it all clicks.
Getting down to 7:50 will likely be enough for a medal here as well. Theirs will be a more egalitarian approach than some of their fellow medal challengers, but with Nina Holt (1:58.11) and Maya Werner (1:58.86) available as well, they seem well equipped to challenge.
Italy will have a similar approach to the Germans, with four swimmers between 1:57.24 and 1:58.23 this season. Alessandra Mao, who won bronze at the world junior Championships last season in 1:57.00, leads them thanks to the 1:57.24 she posted at the Sette Colli, and fellow junior swimmer Bianca Nannucci is also sub-1:58 in 1:57.82.
Simona Quadarella is always a consistent leg on this relay despite being more distance-oriented, and Anna Chiara Mascolo set a new lifetime best of 1:58.09 at the Italian Championships.
Italy placed 9th at the 2024 Olympics and 7th at the 2025 World Championships, with last year’s relay featuring Nannucci, Chiara Mascolo, and Matilde Bagiotti (1:58.65), who is also on the roster. No one was under 1:58 on either relay, and their last European Championships podium came in 2021 and depended on a 1:56.54 anchor from since-retired Federica Pellegrini.
Italy’s juniors have clocked 7:56s in each of the last two seasons, winning World Junior bronze in 2025 and European Junior gold last month. Mao and Nannucci were on both of those, but may find themselves just off the podium as they team up at a senior level for the first time.
Missing Pieces?
The Netherlands won gold at the European Championships four years ago, but their only appearances since saw them place 7th at the 2024 World Championships and 12th at the 2024 Olympic Games. This relay has lived or died by the form of Marrit Steenbergen, who was then only split under 1:58.9 on all three occasions.
She anchored them to gold in 1:56.26 in 2022, but was an even-faster 1:54.89 two years later in Doha, then 1:56.79 in Paris. Steenbergen had a season best of 1:56.02, half a second off her lifetime best of 1:56.51, but is also coming off a stunning short course season that saw her break Sarah Sjostrom’s European record in the 200 free.
This year there are some reinforcements. Imani de Jong has dropped down to 1:57.79, with Yara van Kalmthout (2:00.55) and Nynke Boerefijn (2:00.71) also in the squad. It does still seem as though they are a couple of swimmers away from making the most of Steenbergen’s talent here though.
Hungary was the top European finisher at the World Championships last summer, placing 4th in 7:49.66, but they return just three of the four swimmers from that quartet. The European U23 200 free co-champions Nikolett Padar and Lila Minna Abraham are joined by Panna Ugrai, but third leg Dora Molnar is not on the roster and it looks like Anna Kesely will be the final member of the relay.
Ugrai has been having a good season, setting a lifetime best of 1:57.42 in April, but Abraham has been three seconds off her best of 1:56.03. Padar is just over a second off her best in 1:57.27, and the loss of Molnar, who split 1:58.72, is another area they could lose time.
Kesely has a lifetime best of 1:57.10, but that is from the World Junior Championships nine years ago. Her season best is just 2:00.48 and she has not broken 2:00 since the 2023 World Championships. She did split 1:59.45 at the 2024 Olympics, but with this relay being her only event of the meet she could be rusty.
At their best this team can challenge for the podium, and they should have a reasonable buffer if Padar and Abraham are on form. If not though, they may never quite get into the medal hunt.
Three of the four members of Russia’s silver medal-winning team from the European Junior Championships will also compete at the senior meet in Paris, and they add Milana Stepanova (1:58.09) and Daria Surushkina (1:58.78) to that group. Kseniia Misharina is their fastest swimmer this season with a 1:58.06, while Sofia Diakova split 1:57.70 and Ksenia Sorokina anchored in 1:59.60 in Munich last month. They should easily be in the 7:53-7:54 range, but anything more will probably require at least two of the above to break into the 1:57s.
Aiming For The Final
Spain last swam this event at the European Championships back in 2018, when they finished 5th in 8:02.04, but with a pair of 1:57-point swimmers this looks to be their strongest team for a decade. Maria Daza Garcia (1:57.15) and Ainhoa Campabadal Amezcua (1:57.86) are their only two swimmers under 2:00, but Alba Herrero Lazaro (2:00.49) and 16-year-old Irene Ciercoles Galve (2:01.00) look solid options for them. The Spanish record of 7:53.20 is one for the future, but with none of these swimmers over the age of 23 they could kickstart some momentum with a finals appearance here.
France have left Marina Jehl, their #3 swimmer this season, at home, but the inclusion of 19-year-old Giulia Rossi-Bene in the team indicates that they will be swimming this relay. Lucille Tessariol is their only swimmer under 2:00 this season at 1:58.51, but both Rossi-Bene (2:00.17) and Albane Cachot (2:00.55) are only just on the other side of that barrier.
Jeanne LeChavalier was 2:00.08 last season, and both Marie Wattel (1:58.18) and Beryl Gastaldello (1:59.92) have broken 2:00 before. They will probably crack 8:00 to make the final, but have an almighty job of challenging the frontrunners.
SwimSwam’s Picks
Place Nation Season Best Add-Up 2024 Result 1 Great Britain 7:46.06 – 2 Germany 7:50.31 4th 3 Italy 7:51.38 – 4 Hungary 7:54.24 2nd 5 Russia 7:53.25 – 6 Netherlands 7:55.07 – 7 Spain 7:56.60 – 8 France 7:59.31 –Dark Horse – Israel
Israel were European champions two years ago in a new national record of 7:51.83, but did not swim this relay at the World Championships. Three of the four members of the team who won gold are still in action, and if they can find a fourth member to add to Anastasia Gorbenko, Lea Polonsky, and Daria Golavaty, they could be dangerous again.
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