2026 European Championships Previews: Kos To Top A World-Class Field In The Men’s 100 Back? ...Middle East

By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam

European Swimming Championships

BY THE NUMBERS – MEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE

The men’s 100 backstroke, so long the pride of the U.S., is firmly a European endeavour right now. South Africa’s Pieter Coetze is setting the world standard in the 100 back right now, but the next nine finishers at the world championships last season were all European and they dominate the season rankings again this season.

World record holder Thomas Ceccon is some way down the field, but is one of two returning European champions. The other, Greece’s Apostolos Christou, is one of the world’s most underrated swimmers in the event, and Hubert Kos, Ollie Morgan, and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard all have the talent to win this race.

This is an elite field. Only 47 men have ever broken 53 seconds in the men’s 100 back. Nearly a quarter of those, 11 in total, will be in the field in Paris this summer.

The World Record Holder

Thomas Ceccon is the world record holder and reigning Olympic Champion, but didn’t have things all his own way at the world championships last year. He took silver at the 2025 World Championships behind South Africa’s Pieter Coetze, but Ceccon’s 51.90 was only 0.02 seconds ahead of Frenchman Yohann Ndoye-Brouard’s 51.92.

When the Italian won world championship gold in a new world record of 51.60 in 2022, there was a sense that he could dominate the event for years to come. However, he has placed second at the last two world championships, albeit with an Olympic gold in the year between the two, and has just two sub-52 second swims since the Budapest world championships in 2022.

This season hasn’t necessarily indicated that he is back in world-beating form. His season best of 53.16, from a medley relay leadoff at the Italian Championships, is his slowest in-season time since 2020 and this is the first year since then he hasn’t clocked a 52-point swim by now. He also hasn’t been shy about his struggles with the sport

It isn’t certain which version of Ceccon we’ll see in Paris. He hasn’t raced as much this season compared to years past, and although he has always turned up in the summer – his “worst” summer saw him clock 52.27 – this year feels different.

Sensing Opportunity?

Ollie Morgan progressed from Olympic finalist to medal contender last season, slicing six tenths off his British Record at the 2025 Aquatics GB Championships with a time of 52.12. That marked three years of incredible progression from the swimmer who has just moved from the University of Birmingham to the Manchester Performance centre.

In the summer of 2022 he notched a personal best of 54.70, a two second drop in 12 months, but sliced another second and a half off the following year as he qualified for his first World Championship team. He dropped down to 53.77 at the British Championships, then was faster in all three of his swims in Fukuoka culminating in a 53.25 leadoff in the men’s medley relay.

A first British record came in the lead-up to the Olympics, shaving 0.02 seconds off Liam Tancock’s mark of 52.73 with a 52.71 to defend his British title, and then placed 8th in the Olympic final in 52.84.

Last season was the year that he really threw his hat in the ring. A massive lifetime best of 52.12 at the Aquatics GB Championships made him a medal contender at the 2025 world championships, where he ended up placing 5th in 52.37. He added two more British records at the European Short Course Championships in the 50 back (22.85) and 100 back (49.55), winning bronze in the latter for his first major international medal.

This year was the first where he did not set a lifetime best at the British Championships, which after adding time in the last two summers gives him room to drop. He was slightly slower at the Commonwealth Games with a 52.66, but up against Pieter Coetze there he may have decided to save his taper for the European Championships.

The two Frenchmen with the best chance to make it through to the final are Mewen Tomac and reigning world bronze medalist Yohann Ndoye-Brouard. Both have been a little pedestrian so far this season, Ndoye-Brouard with a season-best of 53.44 and Tomac with a season-best of 53.68.

Both were faster in the lead-up to the World Championships last season. Ndoye-Brouard won the French Elite Championships in 52.81 while Tomac was 53.27, and both dropped time in Singapore. There is the caveat that the 100 back final was delayed by a full day at the Championships this year due to an issue around the race start, but Tomac especially has looked a little sluggish so far with only one sub-54 seconds swim.

Ndoye-Brouard has been a consistent finalist at a world level for years now, making the top eight every summer from 2022-2025, and has been 52-point in every one of those finals. Tomac has struggled to make it through recently, bowing out in the semi-finals in Singapore last summer and in Paris the year before.

With the depth in the field – nine of the top ten finishers at the 2025 World Championships were European – Tomac may only be a semi-finalist again, but Ndoye-Brouard should be right in the title mix. He is the only swimmer here other than Thomas Ceccon with a world or Olympic medal in the 100 back since the Tokyo Olympics, winning bronze in Singapore with a half-second drop in a time of 51.92, and was under 52.5 on four occasions at the World Championships last year. With Ceccon not having the same fire this season as he has had previously, Kolesnikov looking slower than last year, and Morgan still dealing with taking time out of the pool in May, he could well end up on top of the podium.

To do so he will have to get through the possibly the second-best three-distance backstroker in the world right now. South Africa’s Pieter Coetze was the only swimmer to medal in all three distances last summer, but Hubert Kos was the only other swimmer to make the all three finals.

He was electric in short course this fall, setting world records in the 100 back and breaking Mitch Larkin’s decade-old 200 back standard. He ranks 4th so far this season in 52.63, four tenths off his lifetime best of 52.20 and a little slower than the 52.24 he clocked in-season last year.

Kos had an NCAA season for the ages in which he set a new NCAA record of 42.61 in the 100 back, six tenths faster than anyone else in history. He has looked strong so far this season, and he has dropped time in the summer in each of the last three seasons.

With a lot of the top contenders having a reason for us to doubt their ability to top the podium, could this be Kos’ year? It may take just a 52-low to win gold. You’d fancy Kos to be there if that’s true.

Another medal contender, who has probably been underrated for several years now, is Greece’s Apostolos Christou. He is the second-fastest European man this season with his season best of 52.47, and has a lifetime best of 52.09 from the 2022 World Championships. He won bronze at the European Championships in 2021, silver in 2022, and gold in 2024, so has real pedigree. He is also the defending champion, dominating the field in 2024 with a 52.23 which would have won silver at the Olympics that summer.

Christou has 23 swims under 53 seconds in the 100 back, and has been sub-52.5 at the business end of the season three of the last four seasons. He was a finalist at the World Championships last year and won silver in the 200 back at the Paris Olympics, and will be one to keep a real eye on in the final. Extending his medal-winning streak would not be a real surprise.

Russia’s Return

The Russian lineup will look slightly different from what may have been anticipated, with Miron Lifintsev not competing after a third-place finish at the Russian Championships. The #3 swimmer in history, courtesy of his 51.78 mixed medley relay leadoff, is undergoing back surgery this summer,  but there is still at least one familiar face on the team.

Kliment Kolesnikov has, in terms of raw times, more than satisfied the promise he showed as a junior, ranking #3 all time with a 51.82. He posted that time in 2023, but after swimming 52.04 at the Russian Championships last April he headed into the 2025 World Championships as one of the favorites.

He didn’t quite live up to that billing in Singapore, finishing 6th in 52.38 but never looking quite at the level of the swimmers on the podium. He led off the men’s medley relay in prelims in 53.02 as well, nearly a second slower than his in-season time.

Kolesnikov has competed at two European Championships before, with wildly different outcomes. He won gold in a new world junior and Russian record of 52.53 in 2018, but placed last in the semi-finals in 2021, with the 100 free final just minutes before taking its toll.

His season best is 52.52, third-fastest in the field, but half a second slower than he was in-season last year. With his 50 back in pretty much the same place it was 12 months ago, that doesn’t look a great omen for his title hopes in the 100.

The other Russian swimmer with podium potential is 2025 50 back world silver medalist Pavel Samusenko. He could count himself unlucky to miss out on a world championships swim last year – he was third at the Russian Championships in 52.40, faster than the time it took to qualify for the final in Singapore.

This year he finished one spot higher in Kazan, albeit in a slower time of 52.72. That still ranks him fourth coming into this meet, and he has made huge strides over the last couple of years. He would be a surprise medalist, but is more than strong enough to make the final.

Final Hopes

Ksawery Masiuk missed the 100 back final at the World Championships last summer despite clocking 52.67 in the semi-finals, and won bronze at this meet two years ago. He had hardly raced backstroke this season, having moved to Texas in January, until he blasted a 53.37 in April then lowered his season best to 53.08 in June at the Polish Junior Championships.

That is half a second slower than he was in the lead-up last summer, but indicates that he should be in 52-second form in Paris. He generally drops time in the summer, and will certainly need to if he wants to be in the mix with this field.

There will be a pair of Brits battling it out to join Morgan in the semi-finals, with Matt Ward and Jack Skerry both setting impressive lifetime bests in the last year. Skerry won European U23 gold in Šamorín last summer, setting a new PB of 53.35, while Ward won silver at the Aquatics GB Championships in April after setting a new Scottish record of 53.29 in the heats.

Skerry has been within a quarter second of his best this season, clocking 53.60 in the heats at the Aquatics GB Championships, but added time in the final to place 4th. He was off his best in the 200 at that meet as well, but did set a best time in the 50.

Ward will have only this event to focus on, while Skerry is also swimming the 50, but unlike the English swimmer, Ward will be coming off a relatively busy Commonwealth Games schedule. With his extra speed in the 50 and a more homogeneous taper, Skerry probably has the edge.

New Kids On The Block

Kaii Winkler has had his best season yet in the NCAA, and has managed to convert his form across into meters without skipping a beat. He has set lifetime bests in the 100 free, 200 free, 100 fly, with the latter being the most surprising.

He had not broken 56 seconds before June, but dropped down to 53.80 at the Indianapolis Pro Swim Series before hacking off another half a second to notch a time of 53.22 in the final. That makes him a semi-finals contender and he could be in the mix for more if he keeps up the pace of his improvements.

Jon Shortt is more at home in the longer events, setting a new World Junior Record in the 200 back at the European Short Course Championships in December, but has lowered the Irish record in the 100 back to 53.17 this season. That was seven tenths of a second faster than his winning time from the World Junior Championships last season, although he is still more 200 back-oriented and may not have the speed to keep up with the elite field here.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse – Miroslav Knedla (CZE)

Knedla set a lifetime best of 53.15 at the World Championships last summer, but has been just 54.02 so far this season. He did not swim the event at the Czech Championships though, where he was 24.44 in the 50 back, not at the Canet stop on the Mare Nostrum tour where he swam his season best of 24.43. He was 4th at the European Short Course Championships in 49.93, and was prolific as a junior with world junior medals in both 2022 and 2023. He could be the next European man into the 52s.

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