By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam
2026 European Swimming Championships
August 10-16, 2026 Paris, France — Olympic Aquatics Centre LCM (50 Meters) Meet Information Meet Central Entries Results Live Results SwimSwam Preview Index Live Recaps Prelims: Day 1DAY 1 FINALS START LIST
Day 1 Finals Schedule
Men’s 50 Butterfly Semi-finals Women’s 100 Freestyle Semi-finals Men’s 400 IM Final Women’s 200 Backstroke Semi-finals Men’s 100 Breaststroke Semi-finals Women’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay Final Men’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay FinalAfter an intriguing prelims session that showed that Maxime Grousset is fully fit again after a foot injury and Great Britain’s Commonwealth Games hangover may not have fully cleared, we have seven races in tonight’s finals session. Three of those will be finals – the men’s 400 IM, the women’s 4×200 free relay, and the men’s 4×200 free relay.
Men’s 50 Butterfly
We saw some rapid swims this morning, with Maxime Grousset shaking off the cobwebs after a foot injury with a blistering 22.49, just 0.01 seconds slower than the time in which he won gold at the World Championships last summer. He was one of six men under 23 seconds, with Noe Ponti (22.69), Egor Kornev (22.70) – who was breathing every two strokes – Marios Bilas (22.93), Kristof Milak (22.96), and Grigorii Pekarski (22.97) joining him.
Previous world champions Thomas Ceccon (23.01) and Diogo Matos Ribeiro (23.04), the latter of whom had a poor start but looked to be the fastest over the water this morning, are also in the mix. Luca Armbruster (23.12) was a finalist at the World Championships last year, and it should take a sub-23 second swim to make it into tomorrow’s final.
None of these swimmers have any doubles tonight, so expect this to be quick. The top seven men at the World Championships last year were European, and this looks like it will be a furiously fast splash’n’dash.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Marrit Steenbergen and Milou van Wijk both looked imperious in winning their heats, notching the two fastest times this morning in 52.62 and 53.00, respectively. They will swim in lane 4 of the two semi-finals, with Steenbergen on record watch after lowering Sarah Sjostrom’s previous Championship record this morning by 0.05 seconds.
Sara Curtis cruised to victory in the penultimate heat in 53.76, but has been over a second faster this season already at 52.69. Two Czech swimmers, including defending champion Barbara Seemanova (53.77), were in the top six this morning, and the home crowd will be hoping for Marie Wattel (53.98) and Beryl Gastaldello (54.03) to make it through.
Men’s 400 IM
The last three winners of this event will all feature tonight, with 2021 champion Ilia Borodin (4:13.10), 2022 champion Alberto Razzetti (4:13.54), and 2024 champion Apostolos Papastamos (4:14.79) moving through from the heats. All eight swimmers were between 4:13 and 4:16 this morning, with most keeping their cards close to their chest.
One swimmer who did not was Germany’s Finn Hammer, who blasted a five-second lifetime best of 4:13.45 to win heat 2 this morning. He is coming off his freshman season at Georgia in the NCAA and will be one to watch from lane 5 tonight.
Max Litchfield, the European Short Course silver medalist, is the #4 seed in 4:13.69 with Cedric Bussing at #5 in 4:14.59. The third-fastest man coming into the heats, Maxim Stupin, missed the final, and the almost anyone in this field could fancy themselves a medalist.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
We have lost a medal contender in the women’s 200 backstroke already, with Frenchwoman Bertille Cousson, the #2 European woman so far this season in 2:08.67, just the third-fastest French swimmer this morning in 2:11.94. Paulien Mahieu (2:10.62) and 16-year-old European Junior champion Jeanne LeChavalier (2:11.30) were the two to move through, but it was Great Britain’s Katie Shanahan (2:09.29) who was the only woman to crack 2:10 this morning.
Lise Seidel (2:10.02) and Estella Tonrath (2:10.22) were just on the other side of the barrier, with 2024 champion Camila Rebelo 5th this morning in 2:10.67 albeit with the fastest final 50 of anyone at 32.80. Eszter Szabo-Feltothy, the bronze medalist two years ago, was 6th in 2:10.74 with 2024 World Championships bronze medalist Anastasia Shkurdai 7th in 2:10.97.
Fourth through 11th this morning were separated by under a second, so the margins look to be tight to make the final.
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
We saw 14 swimmers break the 1:00 barrier this morning, led by a familiar name in Adam Ramsay-Peaty (59.08). He looked back to his old self after a below-par Commonwealth Games, running down early leader Kirill Prigoda in the final heat with a 31.49 second 50.
Nicolo Martinenghi (59.11) had the fastest second 50, with Ramsay-Peaty’s teammate and Commonwealth Games silver medalist Filip Nowacki (59.39) also closing harder in 31.40. Simone Cerasuolo matched Martinenghi’s 59.11 and wasn’t much slower on the back half with a 31.51.
Jack Kelly blasted a huge new Irish record of 59.27 for 4th this morning, just ahead of 2024 champion Melvin Imoudu (59.31). Kirill Prigoda, the fastest seed coming into the heats at 58.53, was 59.38 for 6th this morning, with teammate Ivan Kozhakin 9th in 59.52.
At least a couple of big names will fall tonight, with at least ten swimmers who would fancy themselves locks for the final. The top ten this morning were separated by half a second, so the finishes look like being tight again tonight.
Women’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay
No one leapt out from the women’s 4×200 free heats this morning, although the Netherlands missing the final by half a second came as a shock. Neutral Athletes B led the way in 7:54.17, four tenths ahead of Germany (7:54.57), and they got a 1:57.84 leadoff for Kseniia Misharina that stands as a new lifetime best. With Sofia Diakova splitting 1:57.70 at the European Junior Championships last month and Milana Stepanova clocking 1:58.09 earlier this season, they could be dangerous.
Germany can bring in Isabel Gose tonight, and will expect more from Maya Tobehn and Nicole Maier after both were at least a second slower than their season bests. Linda Roth, the European Junior champion, had the fastest split in the field this morning at 1:57.62.
Hungary (7:56.75) and Italy (7:57.57) looked solid, although will need to rely on improvements from the swimmers who swam this morning after fielding their full team. Nikolett Padar and Panna Ugrai can drop at least a second each for Hungary, while Alessandra Mao was nearly four seconds off her best of 1:57.00 with a 2:00.89 on the anchor leg.
Great Britain are the biggest enigma, capable of winning this event at a canter or missing the podium entirely. They were 5th this morning in 7:58.84, but will bring in Freya Colbert and Leah Schlosshan for Amalie Smith and Theodora Taylor in a move which could knock over ten seconds off their time. They will also hope for more from Freya Anderson after she led off in 1:59.12, two seconds off her season best of 1:57.00.
Men’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay
Germany took the top seed this morning ahead of Great Britain, but used their likely finals relay whereas the Brits will swap out almost the entire quartet. Expect Lukas Martens to be faster than the 1:45.84 he led off in, but both Timo Sorgius (50.61/55.72) and Cornelius Jahn (50.28/56.21) went for fly-and-die strategies that will see them hunted down if repeated tonight.
Great Britain will bring in Matt Richards, Duncan Scott, and James Guy, with Jack McMillan likely staying in after being the fastest split this morning at 1:45.40. They are the reigning World and Olympic champions, but have not won the European title since 2018, with what was Tom Dean‘s first international title.
Lithuania shredded their dark horse application this morning with a 7:05.93 for third, and the defending European champions may make it back onto the podium with Tajus Juska (1:45.67) to come in. Tomas Navikonis split 1:45.64 this morning and Danas Rapsys can drop a second or so from his 1:46.27 split, having been 1:44.90 two years ago.
Italy looked off the pace and only qualified 6th, and even with World Junior champion and national record holder Carlos D’Ambrosio to come in the podium could be a stretch. France bring in an even bigger name in Leon Marchand, but they will be swimming out of lane 1 after qualifying 7th this morning in 7:09.33.
The Championship record of 7:03.48 will almost certainly fall tonight, with the real question being whether anyone can hang onto Great Britain or if they streak away. They have broken 7:00 in four of the last five seasons, and something similar tonight would blow away this field,
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