By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
2026 European Swimming Championships
August 10-16, 2026 Paris, France — Olympic Aquatics Centre LCM (50 Meters) Meet Information Meet Central Entries SwimSwam Preview IndexWomen’s 200 Breaststroke: By the Numbers
World Record: 2:17.55 – Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS), 2023 European Record: 2:17.55 – Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS), 2023 Championship Record: 2:19.84 – Rikke Moller Pedersen (DEN), 2014 2025 World Champion: 2:18.50 – Kate Douglass (USA) 2022 European Champion: 2:23.27 – Lisa Mamie (SUI)The women’s breaststroke events have gotten much faster in Europe since the 2022 championships, and it is realistic that it will take a faster time to final this year than the 2022 winning time of 2:23.27.
The Sub-20s
While women’s breaststroke has gotten faster in Europe, Angharad Evans and Evgeniia Chikunova stand a head above the rest as the only two swimmers in the field who have been under 2:20 in the last two years.
Angharad Evans2026 COMMONWEALTH GAMES – GLASGOWCredit Mickael Malaper/Malaper Photography
Evans first cracked that mark in April, when she set a new British record time of 2:19.70 at the GB Swimming Championships. She became the first woman in British history to break 2:20, and took two seconds off her lifetime best 2:21.86 from 2025.
She struggled slightly at the World Championships last summer, swimming 2:24.21 in the final to finish 5th, but she swam faster than that at the Commonwealth Games, stopping the clock in 2:23.79 to win by more than half-a-second. As long as she can get close to her 2:19 mark, she will be a threat for the gold medal.
Evgeniia Chikunova is the world record holder in the event, and is probably the favorite to win, though her 2:19.96 seed time, which she swam to win the silver medal at the World Championships, is slower than Evans’ 2:19.70.
Chikunova set the World Record back in 2023 at the Russian Swimming Championships when she was just 18. At the time, she took nearly a second-and-a-half off the former record time of 2:18.95 to swim 2:17.55.
She has not been back under 2:18 since and her 2:19.96 from last year’s World Championships is the fastest she has ever swum outside of Russia. If she can get back under 2:20, she will easily earn a medal.
Her season best time stands at 2:20.59 from the Russian Championships in June
The biggest challenge for both Chikunova and Evans will be matching their best times outside of their home countries, but it seems likely that one of them will win and the other will get the silver medal.
The Netherlands’ Tes Schouten is the only other athlete in the field who has ever been under 2:20, coming in with a lifetime best of 2:19.81, which she set at the 2024 World Championships in Doha.
She has not been under 2:20 again since that swim with her 2nd fastest time ever coming in at 2:21.05 from the 2024 Olympic Games. After missing the 2025 World Championships due to injury, Schouten relocated to Belgium to train with former coach Mark Faber.
TES SCHOUTEN2023 European SC Championshipcourtesy of LEN European Aquatics
In July at the Dutch Trials, Schouten swam her fastest time since 2024, stopping the clock in 2:21.71 to earn the 3rd seed in the event. She will be trying to pick up a medal and potentially earn a new best time.
22s and 23s
After Schouten, the next seeded athlete is Ireland’s Mona McSharry. She also picked up a new lifetime best this season, swimming 2:22.22 at the Irish Open to take two tenths off the 2:22.49 she set in June of 2024.
McSharry took a short break after the 2024 Olympic Games, but seems to be back in full form. She will likely qualify for the final, and will be hoping for a medal.
Italy’s Lisa Angolini is seeded just six hundredths behind McSharry in 2:22.28, which is also a lifetime best. She set it in April at the Italian Championships, taking a full second off the 2:23.87 she swam just a month prior. She came into the season at 2:24.71 from March of 2024.
Angolini is on a clear upward trajectory, and has potential for another massive swim in Paris.
Lithuania’s Kotryna Teterevkova is the final swimmer in the field who has been under 2:23. She is seeded in 2:22.98, which she swam at the 2025 World Championships. Her lifetime best is 2:22.86 from the 2023 World University Games. Her season best is 2:23.92 from April’s Lithuanian Championships.
After Teterevkova, there are four athletes in the 2:23 range. Belarus’s Alina Zmushka (2:23.33), Germany’s Anna Elendt (2:23.54), Ireland’s Ellie McCartney (2:23.79), and Denmark’s Clara Rybak-Andersen (2:23.89).
Zmushka and Rybak-Andersen are the only swimmers who have been faster than their seed times. Zmushka has a lifetime best of 2:23.30 from May of 2025 and Rybak-Andersen has been 2:23.67, which she set in April of 2025. Zmushka is also the World Championships bronze medalist, swimming 2:23.52 in Singapore to tie with South Africa’s Kaylene Corbett.
McCartney has the fastest season best of the four, sitting at 2:24.51 from the Saint Dennis Open in March.
The Verdict
Like many of the races at these Championships, the gold medal could realistically go to two athletes with Chikunova and Evans coming in just tenths apart over the last 12 months.
Chikunova is the world record holder, and has been under 2:20 on multiple occasions, which is giving her the edge for the gold medal.
Schouten has been strong this season, and is on a trajectory to set a lifetime best for the first time in two years.
Place Athlete Country Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Evgeniia Chikunova RUS (NAB) 2:20..59 2:17.55 2 Angharad Evans GBR 2:19.70 2:19.70 3 Tes Schouten NED 2:21.71 2:19.81 4 Mona McSharry IRL 2:22.22 2:22.22 5 Lisa Angolini ITA 2:22.28 2:22.28 6 Kotryna Teterevkova LTU 2:22.98 2:22.86 7 Alina Zmushka BLR (NAA) 2:24.58 2:23.30 8 Ellie McCartney IRL 2:24.51 2:23.79Dark Horse: Kay-Lyn Loehr (SUI) – Loehr is an 18-year-old from Switzerland, and she is seeded 12th overall in 2:26.22, just behind Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova, who is seeded in 2:25.59. Loehr has improved significantly this season, and her lifetime best is 2:26.10. She has dropped almost two seconds from her pre-season best of 2:27.95. We see teenagers have huge improvements all the time, and if she is on in the prelims session, she could end up in the final.
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