By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
2026 European Aquatics Championships
Pool Swimming – August 10-16, 2026 Paris, France — Olympic Aquatics Centre LCM (50 Meters) Meet Information Meet Central SwimSwam Preview Index Live Results Live StreamBy The Numbers – Men’s 200 Backstroke
World Record: 1:51.92 – Aaron Peirsol, United States (2009) European Record: 1:53.19 – Hubert Kos, Hungary (2025) Championship Record: 1:53.36 – Evgeny Rylov, Russia (2018) 2025 World Champion: Hubert Kos, Hungary – 1:53.19 2024 European Champion: Oleksandr Zheltyakov, Ukraine – 1:55.39The European Record Holder
Hubert Kos is the clear favorite in this event. He has won the last two major titles on the senior international stage, first at the 2024 Olympics in Paris (1:54.26) and then at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore (1:53.19), and added a world title in 2023 as well (1:54.14). As he did when he won his first world title in 2023 Kos came from behind to win gold in Singapore last summer, splitting 28.60/29.95 to beat South Africa’s Pieter Coetze. He got his hand on the wall in 1:53.19, a European record and the fastest performance since 2015.
After claiming gold at the Olympic and World Championship level, Kos will attempt to win his first 200 backstroke European title. He emphasized that completing that trifecta is important to him in an interview with the Hungarian outlet M4Sport. Still, it’s not his only goal at these championships. Kos is the clear favorite here and is eyeing an expanded event lineup as he prepares for the 2027 World Championships and 2028 Olympics. The 200 backstroke falls early enough in the competition that adding more events to his schedule likely will not affect this race too much—and it would be the first swim in any potential double (for example, with the 100 butterfly).
Aaron Piersol’s super-suited world record is the long-term goal, but Kos will arrive in Paris confident in the knowledge he’s the heavy favorite to win this 200 backstroke title.
Recent Medalists
Kos has cemented himself as the man to beat in this race. There’s a crowded field behind him fighting for the final two spots on the podium, headed up by a crew of consistent medal winners over the four major competitions of the past two seasons: 2024 Europeans, 2024 Worlds, 2024 Olympics, and 2025 Worlds.
Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov has been on three of those four podiums, only missing out at the 2025 World Championships where he finished 7th. Mityukov was at his best one round too early in Singapore, swimming his lifetime best and national record 1:54.83 during the semi-finals. He’s been within a second of that time already this season, courtesy of his 1:55.36 from Swiss Championships that makes him the third-fastest European in the event this season. Mityukov has proven himself a consistent podium threat recently and, provided he gets back to having his best swim in the final, should be one again in Paris.
The Greek duo of Apostolos Siskos and Apostolos Christou are also podium contenders. Siskos has been a more consistent presence in major international finals; in addition to silver at the 2024 European Championships, he finished 6th at 2024 Worlds and 5th in 2025. He’s set himself up well to climb even higher this year in Paris. He owns the fastest time in the world this season with his Greek record of 1:54.12 from the Acropolis Open. That swim puts him just outside top 10 on the all-time top performers list at 11th.
Christou has not been as much of a consistent factor in the 200 backstroke final, mainly because he’s been focused on other races. Out of the four major championships we’ve focused on in this preview, the only one he’s raced the 200 backstroke at is the Olympic Games, where he took silver and won Greece’s first pool swimming medal since 1896 after rocketing out on the first 100.. It was his first 200 backstroke medal on the major international stage—he’s won multiple European medals in the 50 and 100 backstroke, plus took bronze in the 100 backstroke at 2024 World Championships. His season-best is a 1:56.93, over two seconds off his lifetime best 1:54.82. That indicates his focus may be elsewhere this season but if he enters the event he should be considered a podium threat.
Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez was the 2024 world champion in this event. He touched out Mityukov by a tenth for the gold, 1:55.30 to 1:55.40. That swam was a lifetime best for Gonzalez at the time but he has since dipped under the 1:55 barrier, popping a 1:54.51 at the 2024 Spanish Trials. He’s been as fast as 1:55.95 this season. There are many swimmers hanging around the 1:55-high range this season, and there are plenty of 1:55-low lifetime bests in the crowd as well. A proven ability to be faster than 1:55 is an advantage in this field and should help power Gonzalez back into the final.
That’s true for Yohann Ndoye-Brouard as well. Ndoye-Brouard has a lifetime best of 1:54.47 from the 2025 World Championship semifinals. He was slightly slower in the final but still got back under 1:55, winning bronze in a 1:54.62. The 2024 Olympic and 2025 World Championship podiums were both sub-1:55. There’s enough European depth in this event for that to be true at these upcoming championships so like Gonzalez and Chrisou, Ndoye-Brouard will need to improve from his 1:56.68 season-best (swim at the Austin Pro Swim) to re-establish himself as the podium contender he is.
Luke Greenbank is the British record holder in this event and has also been under the 1:55 mark. He’s been as fast as 1:54.43, though that swim came in 2021. After struggling in this event over the past few years, he got back into the final at the 2025 World Championships, taking eighth. He’s been 1:56.01 this season at the British Championships and picked up bronze at the 2026 Commonwealth Games (1:56.58), but has picked a habit of fading down the stretch that could cost him.
Lifetime Bests Already This Season
Siskos is not the only one bringing a shiny new lifetime best to Paris this week. John Shortt and Alexey Tkachev have both swum lifetime bests this season that could put them in the mix for the final. So has Lukas Märtens, who did race this event at the 2024 Olympicsm, however Germany’s updated entry list reveals that the 400 free world record holder intends to focus on the 200/400 free events in Paris.
Shortt is no stranger to the European Championship final, having touched seventh at the 2024 European Championships. The Irishman followed that up with an excellent 2025 campaign, winning double gold in the 100/200 backstroke at the World Junior Championships. He also won gold in the 200 backstroke at the short-course European Championships last year. He’s still riding that wave into the 2026 season, where he swam a 1:55.70 lifetime best at the Irish Open, which makes him the ninth-fastest performer in the world this season and fourth-fastest European man.
Tkachev sits just six-hundredths behind Shortt this season. He popped his 1:55.76 lifetime best a the Russian Championships and, like Shortt, is an interesting addition to the senior European Championship field. With so many swimmers bypassing events in the shortened Olympic cycle or taking a well-deserved break after said cycle, the qualification time for the final has been all over the place. That makes it hard to predict whether swimmers like Shortt and Tkachev will need to drop another lifetime best to final. It took a 1:56.62 to reach the 2024 Olympic final and a 1:55.64 at the 2025 World Championships. However, it took just a 1:58.89 (from Shortt) to qualify at the last European Championships.
More 1:55s
As mentioned, there’s a slew of swimmers who own lifetime bests in the 1:55 range including Ollie Morgan, Nathan Muratory, Jan Cejka, Mewen Tomac, Oleksandr Zheltyakov, and Thomas Ceccon. Ceccon has flexed his versatility recently but has several key event lineup decisions to make, particularly about the opening days of this meet which have several potential conflicts for him. Though it’s possible he lines up for this race, it seems likely this will be one of his lower priority events.
Tomac and Zheltyakov own the fastest lifetime bests of this group. They are separated by just .01 seconds, with Tomac posting a 1:55.38 at the Paris Olympics, where he finished fourth. Zheltyakov swam his 1:55.39, a Ukrainian record, to win his 2024 European title. Both have been quiet this season in this event.
Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Ollie Morgan has come within 0.31 seconds of his lifetime best 1:55.55. He put that performance up at the 2025 British Championships, and his season best 1:55.86 comes from the 2026 edition of that meet. He swam 1:56.44 for silver at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. It’s possible the big swim is yet to come as the European Championships may be his focus meet—he and the British team would love him to have his best swim of the season at the international championship, but he has added time in the summer in each of the last three years to miss the final.
Cejka finished sixth at the 2025 World Championships and joined the party of swimmers hitting lifetime bests in Singapore as he logged a 1:55.37 lifetime best and Czech recordthere. He’s been 1:56.26 this season, swum at the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum tour.
SwimSwam Picks
Place Swimmer Nation Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Hubert Kos Hungary 1:54.21 1:53.19 2 Apostolos Siskos Greece 1:54.12 1:54.12 3 Roman Mityukov Switzerland 1:55.36 1:54.83 4 Yohann Ndoye-Brouard France 1:56.68 1:54.47 5 Hugo Gonzalez Spain 1:55.95 1:54.51 6 Ollie Morgan Great Britain 1:55.86 1:55.55 7 John Shortt Ireland 1:55.70 1:55.70 8 Apostolos Christou Greece 1:56.93 1:54.82Dark Horse: Nathan Muratory, France — Muratory is perhaps the biggest X-factor of all in this race. The young French swimmer—and Michigan commit—fired off a lifetime best 1:55.88 at the European Junior Championships. He obliterated the field there, winning gold by more than three seconds and setting a French junior record in the process. If he has anything left in the tank for the senior European Championships, he could shake up this crowded field.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 European Championships Previews: Kos Eyeing First European Title In 200 Backstroke
Hence then, the article about 2026 european championships previews kos eyeing first european title in 200 backstroke 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: Kos Eyeing First European Title In 200 Backstroke )
Also on site :
- Transfer news LIVE: Arsenal identify Vinicius Jr alternatives, Liverpool get Barcola boost, Man Utd sign midfielder
- Port Washington ready for ‘once in a lifetime shot’ as they drive toward Little League World Series dream
- Larry Fitzgerald, set to enter Hall of Fame, doesn’t believe in the idea of retirement: ‘I just don’t’