2026 European Championship Preview: Smith looking for a Gold Rush in the Women’s 400 IM ...Middle East

By Mark Wild on SwimSwam

2026 European Aquatics Championships

BY THE NUMBERS – Women’s 400 I.M.

Despite being the event with the smallest field, the women’s 400 IM is shaping up to be one of the most interesting. With a field of just 16 swimmers, the longer of the two medley events looks to be in a transitional period as a cadre of youthful and medal-hungry swimmers will be looking to make their marks upon the meet while those of an older generation will look to hold on to their positions amongst the continent’s best.

Britain’s Amalie Smith leads the field and the charge of the younger generation as she is one of three teenagers seeded highly in the event, being joined by Hungary’s Vivian Jackl, the 3rd seed, and Germany’s Noelle Benkler, who currently sits 5th in the rankings. Opposing them on the other side and looking to stave off the inevitable youthful takeover are Ireland’s Ellen Walshe, Poland’s Justina Kozan and the defending champion, Anastasia Gorebenko of Israel. 

The Young and the Restless

Just 16 years old, Amalie Smith is already her nation’s most recognizable star in the 400 IM. She placed 3rd in the event at last year’s Aquatics GB Championships, behind Abbie Wood and Freya Colbert, recording a mark of 4:44.34. However, with both Wood and Colbert shifting their attention elsewhere, Smith has picked up the mantle and firmly ensconced herself as her nation’s best 400 IMer. That summer, she claimed the top of the podium at European Juniors, in a championship record of 4:37.02, and then a month later claimed the silver at World Juniors with a new best of 4:35.49.

This season, Smith has thrown everything she can at breaking 4:35, winning the event at her nationals in 4:35.46, before going 4:35.18 at the AP Race London in May. She defended her European Junior title with a 4:35.32, but found that breakthrough at last month’s Commonwealth Games. One of the few bright spots for the English team in Glasgow, Smith was the lone female athlete to earn multiple individual medals, claiming the bronze in the 200 IM and the silver in the 400 IM. Her time in the latter event, 4:33.70, marked her first senior international medal as well as jumping her up to rank 3rd fastest among all Brits, sitting behind only Hannah Miley and Aimee Booker. Smith, a strong breaststroker and butterflier, having swum both strokes on England’s medley relay, is entered with her 4:35.18 from May, but has already shown the ability to be much faster than that.

Smith may be leading the youthful charge into the senior meets, but she certainly is not alone. At the 2025 European Junior Championship, Smith was joined on the podium by Germany’s Noelle Benkler (4:39.01) and by Hungary’s Vivien Jackl (4:40.40). Of the two, Jackl certainly has the greater international experience, as she has already made her mark at the senior level. The 17-year-old, who claimed the junior title in both 2023 and 2024 before taking a back seat to Smith at the last two editions of the meet, has been a fixture of her nation’s senior team for two years. At the 2024 European Championship, the then 15-year-old walked away with a pair of medals, claiming the gold in the 1500 free and a silver in the event, after hitting the wall in 4:38.96. She finished 14th in this event at the Olympics and was 11th last summer at Worlds in Singapore (but 4th among Europeans).

This season she won the event at her nation’s selection meet, going 4:40.56 in the final, and improved upon that time with her 4:37.47 runner-up finish in Munich at Junior Worlds. A strong freestyler and butterflier, Jackl owns a personal best of 4:34.96, but that time dates back to April of 2024. That said, her most recent result is her 2nd fastest swim ever and makes her the 3rd seed, so the Hungarian could be poised to make a run at her PB and defend (or improve) her silver medal from two years ago.

Older than both Smith and Jackl, Noelle Benkler may not have the name recognition of her fellow teenagers, but the German has been making a strong case for her inclusion at her first senior long course international meet. She hit her personal best and entry time of 4:39.01 last summer at Junior Euros, taking the silver in front of Jackl. She was a bit off that mark at World Juniors, finishing 9th in prelims with a 4:47.67, but bounced back nicely with a PB at SC Euros, finishing 4th overall. This year the 18-year-old hasn’t looked as strong, owning a season best of 4:43.38 from her runner-up finish at German nationals. She placed 9th at Sette Colli, winning the B final in a time of 4:48.10, so she isn’t entering the meet on the hot streak that her fellow young guns are, so Benkler may find herself in trouble.

The Work Experience

Smith, Jackl and Benkler do hold one advantage over Ireland’s Ellen Walshe, as the trio are all seeded oddly (ie 1st, 3rd and 5th) and therefore will be in the 2nd of the two heats, and will have the advantage of knowing what time and effort will be required to advance to the final.

That said, Walshe, the 2nd oldest entrant in the field at 24, has the experience and know-how to safely navigate the prelims and not expend too much energy. The Irishwoman won the silver medal in this event at the 2021 Short Course Worlds, and swept the I.M.s in Dublin, when her nation hosted the first European U23 Championships, posting a winning time of 4:42.37. Since then, Walshe made the finals of the Olympics, placing 8th (4:40.70) and just missed making the final in Singapore, coming up less than half a second short (4:38.72).

This season, the former Tennessee Volunteer has had a busy season. She posted a 4:39.01 back in February at a meet in Dubai, then again broke 4:40, winning the event at the Irish Open. Her season best comes from the Sette Colli meet, where she posted her 2nd fastest time ever, going 4:37.20 to earn the silver. She is seeded nearly two seconds faster than that with a 4:35.32, her PB and national record, a result she earned at last summer’s Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale. While her Sette Colli swim is a good sign that she is back on track, it is also a worrying sign that her 2025 season best was more than three seconds faster than her time in Singapore. A trend that she repeated this season in SCM, having become the 8th fastest performer of all time with her 4:22.97 from the World Cup in Toronto, but then finishing 7th in the final at the European Championships with a 4:38.51.

Seeded way down at 9th and 10th are Poland’s Justina Kozan and Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko. While on paper the pair are on the outside looking in, they have both the experience and form to disrupt anyone’s plans. Kozan is entered with a 4:41.57, but has already been faster than that time twice this season, having gone 4:40.06 at a meet in the US in April and then again undercutting 4:41 with a 4:40.95 at July’s Trojan LA Invitational. Kozan, who did most of her training in the United States, had a strong winter, setting multiple personal bests at the SC European Championships, including winning the 400 IM in a new national record time of 4:28.56.

A national record holder for Israel in all strokes save butterfly, Gorbenko is entered as the 10th seed with a time of 4:43.88 but certainly has the skill and experience to be much faster. Owner of a personal best of 4:34.79 from her performance on the 2024 Mare Nostrum Tour, Gorbenko is the defending champion in this event, having beaten Jackl to the top of the podium, with a winning time of 4:36.05. The Louisville Cardinal has a back-and-forth relationship with the event. She finished 10th in the event in this very pool at the Olympics two years ago, but then avoided it in long course until her nation’s Championships in May, when she posted a 4:43.88 winning time. Much of this season has been focused on her short course yards swimming, where she produced some blistering times in the 200 IM and breaststrokes, but her ability to carry that over to a long course 400 IM leaves some questioning.

Outsiders

The six aforementioned swimmers have the most name recognition but certainly do not have a lock on the podium or even the final, as Spain and Italy have a few medal contenders of their own.

If this were six years ago, then Spain’s Alba Vazquez would certainly be at the forefront of the conversation. In 2019, Vazquez set a new Championship record at the European Junior Championships, winning the event in 4:40.64, a mark that didn’t stand long as her personal best, as a month later she produced a new Junior World Record of 4:38.53, winning the event at the World Junior Championships, a mark that was quickly surpassed by Summer McIntosh. In the years since, Vazquez has been relatively quiet, with a bronze at the 2022 Mediterranean Games her only medal (4:45.63). She finished 15th in Fukuoka and 14th last year in Singapore (4:46.01), but something changed recently as she posted a new PB of 4:29.57 at the SC European Championships to take the silver behind Kozan. She carried over that newfound form to her long course season, posting a PB of 4:38.16 at March’s Spanish Spring Open, and then proved it wasn’t a fluke by going 4:38.52 at the AP Race London meet, finishing 3rd overall.

The 24-year-old, ranked 23rd in the world this year, occupies the 4th seed, but has a pair of Italians hot on her heels as Anna Pirovano and Giada Alzetta are also seeded with sub-4:40s. Pirovano, the oldest entrant in the field at 25, posted her season and personal best of 4:39.38 at the Sette Colli, taking 3rd behind the USA’s Alex Walsh and Ireland’s Walshe. The time is a great improvement upon her former best, as she had previously never broken 4:41, with the old pb of 4:41.08 coming at the same meet one year prior. Much like Walshe’s strong in-season swims but lack of end-of-season results, Pirovano will have to avoid the same fate befalling her, as she had a poor showing at the World University Games last summer, finishing 6th in a time of 4:48.02.  Pirovano’s compatriot Alzetta is part of Italy’s younger generation of future talents, with the 19-year-old also recording a new PB at the Sette Colli meet, going 4:39.94, to rank 30th in the world this season. Alzetta will be making her senior-level meet debut, but has a strong background on the junior level, taking 4th in this event at the 2024 European Juniors (4:44.68) and earning the silver to Kozan at the 2025 European U23 Championships in Samorin, Slovakia last summer, posting a time of 4:44.31.

SwimSwam Picks

Dark Horse:  Aleksandra Knop (Poland) – Knop is seeded higher than both Gorbenko and Kozan, but hasn’t quite had the season that Kozan has nor the experience of Gorbenko. Knop owns a personal best and seed time of 4:41.07, but that time comes from April 2025, when she won the event at her nation’s 19-23 championship. She struggled to match that time at the 2025 European U23 Championship, finishing 4th albeit in a time of 4:51.56. While she was the 7th fastest European at the 2025 Worlds, she finished 15th overall in a time of 4:48.12. That said, she did recently win the event at April’s nationals, going 4:45.82, and could, with a strong prelims swim, find herself in the final again, after having finished 8th in prelims back in 2024, before ultimately being disqualified in the final. 

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