2026 European Championships: Day 6 Prelims Preview ...Middle East

By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam

2026 European Swimming Championships

DAY 6 PRELIMS START LIST

Day 6 Prelims Schedule

We are onto the penultimate day of the 2026 European Championships, which means our last full prelims session. We have six events this morning, starting with the men’s 50 free and ending with the mixed 4×200 free relay, an event only contested at the European Championships.

Egor Kornev (21.06) is the top seed in the men’s 50 free, having already won the 50 fly and placed second in the 100 free so far this week. He is four tenths of a second ahead of Serbia’s Andrej Barna (21.44), who was a World Championships finalist alongside Kornev last year, as was Italy’s Leonardo Deplano (21.52).

Maxime Grousset (21.51) is back after winning two silver medals in the sprint fly events, with 100 free bronze medalist Kristof Milak (21.76) one to watch out for in heat 6. There are 23 men seeded under 22 seconds this morning, so expect this one to be close in the fight for the semi-finals.

There are just three heats of the women’s 200 fly, led by 100 fly 5th-place finisher Keanna MacInnes (2:06.93). The Scottish swimmer, who won a pair of individual silver medals at the Commonwealth Games last month, matched the British record in the 100 fly with a 57.25 last night.

Helena Rosendahl Bach (2:07.47) is the defending champion, while Italy’s Paola Borrelli won World University Games bronze last summer. Ellen Walshe (2:07.48) won the 400 IM on day 3 and looked strong in the 200 IM last night, while MacInnes’ teammate Emily Richards (2:07.70)  dropped half a second in the 100 fly semi-finals and could do something similar here.

The men’s 100 back may be the most loaded event of the meet, however, there is an error with the entry lists. Roman Mityukov, the Swiss record holder in the 200 back, is entered fifth-fastest in 52.32, while his real entry time is a 53.32.

We still have eight men entered under 53 seconds, including 50 back medalists Pavel Samusenko (52.72) and Kliment Kolesnikov (52.26), and 2025 World Championships medalists Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (51.92) and Thomas Ceccon (51.80).

Great Britain’s Ollie Morgan (52.72) and Hungary’s Hubert Kos were World Championships finalists last summer, while 50 back champion Miroslav Knedla (53.15) is due a huge drop. There are 18 men entered under 53.30 seconds, so the time required to make the semi-finals is going to be fast.

Ruta Meilutyte (29.54), who has won gold at the last four World Championships, is the top seed in the women’s 50 breast and one of just two swimmers under 30 seconds alongside Italy’s Benedetta Pilato (29.87). The Italian went out in 30.08 in the 100 breast final as she won bronze, so is clearly in good shape for this distance.

Eneli Jefimova (30.02) was 5th in that final but set an Estonian record in the semi-finals, and is the reigning European short course champion. Anita Bottazzo (30.20), a world finalist last summer, will be duelling Pilato and Lisa Angiolini (30.34) for two spots in the semi-final, with all three Italians swimming next to each other in the penultimate heat.

There is no Leon Marchand in the men’s 200 IM, leaving the top seed to his Texas training partner Hubert Kos (1:55.34). He won bronze at the World Championships last summer, one spot ahead of Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (1:55.51), who has his first individual swim of the meet here.

Mikhail Shcherbakov (1:57.12) is the reigning European junior champion, while 400 IM medalists Ilia Borodin (1:57.24), Alberto Razzetti (1:57.53), and Max Litchfield (1:58.70) are also in the field. Tom Dean (1:58.80), the 2023 World Championships bronze medalist, is entered after winning bronze at the Commonwealth Games last month.

There are just 11 teams entered in the mixed 4×200 free, with Great Britain the favorites after winning both the men’s and women’s 4×200 free relays on day 1. France, Spain, Germany, and Italy should all be contenders as well.

Lithuania could be a dark horse podium pick if they swim, but they have scratched the men’s 4×100 free and the mixed 4×100 free so far at this meet. The men finished 5th in the 4×200 free relay on day 1, while Ieva Jurkinaite set a new women’s national record and Tomas Navikonis hacked more than two seconds off his PB to win individual men’s silver in 1:44.55.

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