2026 European Championships Previews: NAB To Hold Off The Challengers Again In The Mixed Medley Relay? ...Middle East

By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam

European Swimming Championships

BY THE NUMBERS – MIXED 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY

Great Britain won this event four times in a row after it’s introduction in 2014, before the Netherlands won gold four years and Israel took the title at the lightly-attended 2024 Championships.

We could be in line for another new winner, with Neutral Athletes B coming off a dominant victory at the World Championships last summer. While that was partly due to some scintillating splits from Miron Lifintsev and Kirill Prigoda, there looks to be no catching them once again.

There are five teams with a season best add-up within half a second though, and podium spots could be won and lost in the final few meters.

The Leading Duo

Neutral Athletes B won gold at the World Championships last summer in a blistering 3:37.97, just half a second off the world record of 3:37.43. They will have at least one lineup change in Paris though, with leadoff leg Miron Lifintsev, whose 51.78 ranks him as the #3 performer in history, skipping the meet to rehab a shoulder injury.

Kliment Kolesnikov is not a bad replacement though, the #4 performer in history at 51.82 and the fastest Russian this season with a 52.51 from the Russian Championships. Pavel Samusenko is an option as well, with a lifetime best of 52.40 from last season.

Kirill Prigoda was 57.56 on the breaststroke leg last summer, a second faster than anyone else in the field and the 5th-fastest performance in history from a swimmer not named Adam Peaty. He has only been 59.30 so far this season, but that split last year was a second under his flat-start best of 58.53 and he seems to swim his best on relays. Ivan Kozhakin, who at 58.91 is the #2 European swimmer so far this season, will likely swim the heats again after splitting 58.72 on the men’s medley relay last summer.

The second half of the race should be identical to the one that won gold in Singapore. Daria Klepikova is the fastest Russian woman this season with a 57.20, and split 55.9 on both this relay and the women’s medley relay 12 months ago. Daria Trofimova had multiple 52-point splits last year, and despite only having a season best of 54.05 should be the anchor. Maria Osterova has been 53.80, and whichever of the pair has been fastest through the first two rounds of the women’s 100 free on day 1 will be in consideration.

Realistically, NAB win gold unless the get disqualified or one of their legs blows up completely. They were the fastest European finisher at the World Championships last summer by three seconds, and although some regression is likely here that buffer should be plenty to ensure they top the podium again.

Italy were 5th at the World Championships last summer, but opted not to use Thomas Ceccon on the leadoff with Christian Bacico swimming there instead. Using the 100 back world record holder would give them anywhere between half a second and a second advantage, and Sara Curtis should be faster than her 52.88 anchor having dropped her Italian record to 52.69 this season.

Nicolo Martinenghi will be in attendance in Paris after splitting 58.63 last year, but Simone Cerasuolo is also a serious contender after setting a new lifetime best of 58.82 to win the Italian title in April. Costanza Cocconcelli and Anita Gastaldi are the options on fly, with Gastaldi having the edge this season 58.10 to 58.62, albeit both slower than the 57.90 Cocconcelli split last summer.

At least three of the legs should be faster for the Italians this summer, and they could end up around two seconds faster than the 3:42.19 they posted in Singapore. NAB look too far away from them for gold, but silver is certainly within their remit.

Lineup Questions To Answer

There is one question for the Dutch – do they think Kai van Westering is in 53-mid form or in 54-mid form? If the former, he leads off and Tessa Giele swims the fly leg. If the latter, they will need to seriously consider Maaike de Waard on leadoff and Sean Niewold on fly. They went with the first option in the final at the World Championships last summer, setting a new national record of 3:40.97 to miss bronze by 0.07 seconds, and the second option is less attractive with Nyls Korstanje missing through injury.

Caspar Corbeau on breaststroke and Marrit Steenbergen on the anchor leg are guaranteed. Giele split 56.29 last summer, but is just over a second slower in-season on the 100 fly this year than she was last season. However, even a 57-flat split would likely make her the better option on fly. Niewold has a lifetime best of 51.83 but isn’t entered in the 100 fly individually and, as more of a 50 swimmer, is very much in fly-and-die territory on the 100.

De Waard has been 59.40 this season, a new lifetime best, while Van Westering has been a three quarters of a second off his best in 54.23. Giele will likely have a double with 50 fly semi-finals on day 2, but Niewold will have the 100 free semi-finals not long before this relay too. We should probably expect to see the same quartet as last year, and delivering a similar time, with both Corbeau and Steenbergen, the new world record holder in the women’s 100 free, having strong seasons so far.

Great Britain have gone with a male breaststroker in every swim since this relay was introduced, but their fastest combination this year may go against convention. Angharad Evans has been lightning on relays this year, with four 1:04-point splits, and clocked a 1:04.52 for Scotland in this relay at the Commonwealth Games. Adam Ramsay-Peaty, the fastest male breaststroker this season, split 58.74 for England in Glasgow, less than six seconds faster than Evans. The gap between their flat-start season bests is 5.99 seconds (58.97 to 1:04.96)

Ollie Morgan is a near-cert on the backstroke leg with a season best of 52.41, seven seconds ahead of Lauren Cox‘s 59.45, while Ed Mildred is just over six seconds faster than Keanna MacInnes, 51.02 to 57.33.

Freestyle has the second-largest gap, with Evelyn Davis (53.99) 6.46 seconds slower than Matt Richards (47.53). Theodora Taylor split 52.63 at the Commonwealth Games and Freya Colbert has a 53.16 split from earlier this season under her belt but the gap here looks like it will be very similar to the one between Evans and Ramsay-Peaty.

This relay lineup will be up in the air until the coaches have had a chance to work out who is on form and who is not. The bad news for that is that the mixed medley is on day 2. The good news is that both the 100 breast and the 100 free will have seen at least the heats completed for both men and women by that point, but this could still be a tricky team selection to get right. Conventional wisdom states that this will be Morgan/Ramsay-Peaty/MacInnes/Taylor or Colbert, but the coaching team may decide to twist with Evans instead. They have the fastest combined time this season at 3:42.23 – but that uses Morgan/Evans/MacInnes/Richards, a combination that looks rogue at best.

France opted not to use Leon Marchand in prelims at the World Championships last year and missed out on the final by less than a tenth of a second in 9th, but this year they will not even have the option to use him. His adductor injury precludes him from racing breaststroke next week, so it will be Carl Aitkaci on this leg after he notched a new best of 59.43 at the French Elite Championships. With Chloe Braun the fastest French woman this season with a 1:08.31, there is not debate on this leg.

France’s lack of a male freestyler not named Maxime Grousset makes a female anchor a certainty as well, with either Marie Wattel or Beryl Gastaldello in line. The uncertainty is whether going with Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (51.92 last summer) and Marie Wattel (57.50 split last summer) is a faster combination than Mary-Ambre Moluh (58.25 this April) and Maxime Grousset (49.27 split last summer).

According to the numbers, it is the latter by nearly two seconds, but Grousset may not be in the same form as he returns from a foot injury and going with a female backstroker will leave them playing catch-up. It is the lineup with the higher ceiling though, and the one they should take. The quartet of Moluh/Aitkaci/Grousset/Wattel should be capable of something in the 3:41 range, which would put them in the mix for a medal.

Final Contenders

Germany has solved their backstroke problem, with Kaii Winkler’s big lifetime best of 53.22 making him the clear choice for that leg. Lucas Matzerath should return on breaststroke after splitting 58.74 in the heats at the World Championships last year, and Angelina Kohler should be faster than the 57.12 she split, which is nearly a second slower than her flat-start best of 56.19.

Nina Holt was the go-to female anchor for Germany last year, but they will have Nina Jazy, Linda Roth, and Maya Tobehn available as options as well, and Germany should get a 53-mid out of their freestyler. They could be in the hunt for minor medals if all breaks right for them – adding Winkler to last year’s relay and replacing Kohler’s split with her flat-start best drops them from 3:44.53 to 3:41.90, and they could drop a few tenths on the other legs.

Poland was a finalist at the World Championships last season, setting a national record of 3:44.22 in the heats and almost matching it with a 3:44.27 in the final for 8th. The four swimmers from that final will return, but they don’t have many obvious routes to improvement. Ksawery Masiuk could drop some time from his 53.19 leadoff, as he owns the Polish record at 52.55, but Dominika Sztandera (1:06.20 in the heats), Jakub Majerski (50.72 in the final) and Kasia Wasick (53.72 in the heats) are probably near their capacity. This team should be a finalist, but like last summer they will be fighting to avoid 8th position.

Belarus, in the form of Neutral Athletes A, have a small squad but one which gives them several options for this relay. The real question mark is over the freestyle leg, with no individual entrants in the event, but they could turn to one of Anastasiya Kuliashova (55.45 PB) or Anastasiya Shkurdai (55.17 PB), or Grigorii Pekarski (49.69 PB), depending on the order of the other legs.

They have both a male and female option on all three of the other legs. Kuliashova probably swims fly, with her season best of 57.76 in the 100 just 5.81 seconds slower than Grigorii Pekarski’s lifetime best of 51.95, with Shkurdai on backstroke and Ilya Shymanovich on breaststroke, thereby making Pekarski the anchor. The alternative would be Uladzimir Mamekin (54.00 entry time) on the leadoff and either Pekarski on fly or Alina Zmushka (1:05.93 PB) on breaststroke, or one of Shkurdai or Kuliashova on free. In short – who knows? They could miss the final entirely if they get it wrong.

Looking Up

Spain has a weakness on breaststroke, where they will probably have to go with Nil Cadevall Micolau (1:00.30). One of Hugo Gonzalez (52.70 PB) or Ivan Martinez Sota (53.26 SB) will lead off, with Laura Cabanes Garzas (58.51) and Maria Daza Garcia (54.01) on the back half. This is a solid team without a real star, with just an outside shot at the top eight.

Ireland look a little stronger than Spain, with a slightly faster front half of Jon Shortt (53.17) and Jack Kelly (59.72). Ellen Walshe (57.96) will be on butterfly duty, with national record holder Grace Davison (54.45) on the anchor leg, and they should demolish the Irish record of 3:49.08 from the 2021 Championships. They have the talent to sneak into the final, and the only clash should be for Jon Shortt with the 200 back semi-final the same night.

Greece can field European champions on the backstroke and butterfly legs in Apostolos Christou and Anna Ntountounaki, and with 18-year-old national record holder Evangelos Efraim Ntoumas on breaststroke they should be a realistic final contender. They don’t have as strong a leg on freestyle, with Anna Vlachou the likely swimmer there with a lifetime best of 55.03. Georgia Damasioti could replace Ntountounaki on fly, having been faster so far this season, and they have a decent shot at placing in the top eight.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse – Belgium

Belgium has a couple of obvious legs, as Noah Verreth has set a new Belgian record of 53.62 in the 100 back this season and Roos Vanotterdijk should be one of the best female fly legs in the field after winning silver at the World Championships last summer. However, it isn’t fully clear what they should do with the other two legs – Florine Gaspard on breaststroke and Lucas Henveaux on freestyle, or Noah De Schryver on breaststroke and Gaspard on freestyle? Gaspard’s versatility means that she will be on the relay one way or another, but getting the lineup decision right could be the difference between making the final and missing out.  

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