2026 European Championships Previews: Vanotterdijk and Kohler Eye The Women’s 100 Fly Title ...Middle East

By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam

European Swimming Championships

BY THE NUMBERS – WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY

Roos Vanotterdijk is the only woman in the field to have broken 56 seconds in her career, but there is only one world champion in this field. Angelina Kohler won the 2024 World Championships in a time of 56.28, having set a German Record of 56.11 in the semi-finals, while Vanotterdijk won silver last year behind Gretchen Walsh.

Title Battle

Roos Vanotterdijk will be the slight favorite at the European Championships this year, despite the above. She ranks second in the European Rankings this season to Kohler, but unlike her rival she has been some way off her lifetime bests in long course so far.

She clocked 56.63 at the start of July, eight tenths of a second off her Belgian record of 55.84, and her other swims this season are a 57.73 from the Barcelona stop of the Mare Nostrum and a 57.24 from the Sette Colli. Her 50 fly has also been half a second off her best, and while she has barely swum any other events this long course season, when she has they have not been at the same level as they were last year.

It seems unlikely that this is fully a drop off in performance – she did set multiple national records in short course in the fall, before pulling out of the European Short Course Championships partway through due to illness. But it does make her title defence slightly more of a question mark. She seems fully focused on the fly events this summer, having swum five events at last summer’s World Championships, and is dropping time as she heads towards this meet. She seems to have more in the tank for this meet than Kohler, which may be the difference – especially with Vanotterdijk dropping time last summer while Kohler added.

The German swimmer is by no means out of the conversation though. She is the fastest European woman this season with a 56.35 from the German Championships, and placed 4th at the World Championships last summer in 56.57. She has been slightly slower this season than the 56.33 she clocked at last year’s Berlin Swim Open, but seems to be saving her taper a little more – she was 58.26 at the Sette Colli this year compared to 57.07 in 2025.

The issue preventing her from moving from near-guaranteed finalist to consistently making the podium seems to be that the splitting in her top swims is reasonably inconsistent. Her opening 50 has been in the 25.9-26.5 range over the last couple of years while her second 50 varies from 29.8 to 30.8. Putting her best splits together gets you to 55.80, three tenths faster than her personal best, but she seems to tend towards swims of 56.3-56.4.

Her German Championships swims had strong back halves of 30.47 and 30.08, and with the 50 speed she has developed over the last year or so she could be back down near her PB. The 56 second is a big one in the 100 fly though. The fact that Vanotterdijk has already broken it and Kohler hasn’t will play a part in this race – unless, of course, Kohler clocks a 55-point swim before the final.

Returning Champions

Louise Hansson set her lifetime best of 56.22 five years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, but her last sub-57 swim came at the 2024 World Championships. She clocked 56.94 for bronze in Doha, then finished 8th at the Paris Olympics in 57.34, before failing to progress from the heats at the World Championships last summer.

She is, however, one of only two swimmers in this field who has won medals in the 100 fly at more than one European Championships along with Marie Wattel. Hansson looks solid this season with swims of 57.50 and 57.63, but was faster in-season last year with a 57.35, before placing 22nd at the World Championships in 58.64. She should progress through and likely make the top eight, but a medal may not be forthcoming.

Another swimmer who doesn’t quite look like capturing her form from a few years ago is Wattel. She won silver at the 2022 European Championships and gold at the 2021 edition, as well as silver at the 2022 World Championships, but has a season best of just 57.90 and has not broken 57 seconds since 2022.

She did place 9th at the Paris Olympics in 57.24, but her fastest time since then is 57.90. Like Hansson, the final should be the minimum expectation for her but she doesn’t have the recent form to suggest that is a lock for the podium.

Eyeing Up Hardware?

Daria Klepikova figures to be just behind them, ready to pounce on any lapses. She was also in the World Championships final last summer, placing 5th in 56.42, but is yet to break 57 seconds this season.

She dropped nearly a second last summer, and also split a pair of 55.9s for Russia on medley relays. Her 57.20 season best is more an indication of how far ahead of the domestic competition she is than anything else, and she has shown that international competition is something she thrives in.

Arina Surkova is just the fourth-fastest Russian this season with a 58.41, but clocked 57.53 at the 2024 Russian Championships and is the national record holder in the 50 fly. Belarussian Anastasiya Kuliashova has set a lifetime best of 57.76 this season, slicing 0.03 seconds off her previous best, and has three 57-second swims already this year.

Tamara Potocka was 26th at the European Championships four years ago, clocking 1:01.43 in Rome, but comes in this year as the fourth-fastest European woman so far this year. Her season best last season was 58.76, which she has been under three times already this season including with her 57.32 lifetime best.

She swam that time at the AP Race international at the end of May, where she was also 25.80 in the 50 fly. Although the 100 is a relatively new event for her, if she can get close to her best that will be enough for the final.

Georgia Damasioti set her lifetime best of 57.50 at the Greek Championships last May, and was a slightly slower 57.71 this year but still ranks 7th in this field. She won silver at the European Championships in Belgrade two years ago in a time of 57.74, and bronze at the European U23 Championships last summer in 58.06. She has been 57.71, 57.78, and 58.06 already this season though, so look for her to get down towards her best and sneak into the final.

Damasioti’s teammate Anna Ntountounaki owns the Greek record with the 57.25 she clocked for 9th at the Tokyo Olympics, and won gold at the 2021 European Championships in 57.37. She has not made the podium at either of the two editions since, but swam a national record of 55.66 at the European Short Course Championships in December and has long course swims of 57.78 and 57.79 this season. She set a 50 fly lifetime best last season, and seems to be coming back into form.

Sara Junevik won bronze two years ago in 58.06, but has been just 59.02 so far this season and will struggle to reach the final even if she is at her best.

Watch Out For The Scots

Before the start of the season, the Scottish record stood at 57.67, owned by Keanna MacInnes. That has been broken twice already this season by MacInnes, and a second Scot in Ciara Schlosshan has also been under that time.

MacInnes had a fantastic Commonwealth Games with a pair of individual silver medals, including clocking 57.33 to win a tight battle for silver in the 100 fly. That knocked 0.24 seconds off her best and Scottish record of 57.57 from the Aquatics GB Championships in April, and makes her the #2 British swimmer in history.

She has been progressing steadily over the past few years, breaking 58 seconds for the first time in 2023 and lowering her PB in every season since. She was a semi-finalist at the World Championships last summer with a 57.67, but will now have the 57-second barrier in her sights.

Schlosshan also set a best time in the 100 fly final at the Commonwealth Games, coming within a hundredth of a second of MacInnes’ former record with a 57.58 for 5th. She has made huge strides over the last two years, having never broken 59 seconds prior to the 2024/2025 season, and has dropped from 58.35 to 57.58 this season already.

A home Commonwealth Games may have been Schlosshan’s priority, but with the form she is in it would be foolish to write her off. She lowered her best by 0.42 seconds in Glasgow, and will now have a realistic aim of making the final in Paris.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse – Tessa Giele (NED)

Giele was 9th at the World Championships last season in 57.17, but has been just 58.25 so far this year. She was 3rd at Dutch Trials in 58.63, but did win silver at the European Short Course Championships in December. She was fast in-season last year and didn’t drop time in the summer, but if she can be faster than she has been in-season this year then she should make the top eight.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 European Championships Previews: Vanotterdijk and Kohler Eye The Women’s 100 Fly Title

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