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2026 European Swimming Championships - August 10-16, 2026 - Paris, France – Olympic Aquatics Centre - LCM (50 Meters) - Meet Information - Meet Central - Entries - Results - Live Results - SwimSwam Preview Index - Live Stream - Recaps: We saw the men’s 50m freestyle semi-finals unfold this evening on the penultimate night of action at the 2026 European Championships. A remarkable 8 men posted times under the 22-second barrier, including field-leading Nikita Sheremet, who posted a big-time result of 21.38. That holds a narrow advantage over Russian 50m fly European champion Egor Kornev, who logged 21.44, and fellow Ukrainian and 2024 world champion Vladyslav Bukhov, who hit 21.51. As for Sheremet, who competes for the University of Louisville in the NCAA, tonight’s outing checks in as a lifetime best. Entering this competition, the 19-year-old’s swiftest performance was represented by the 21.62 he produced at the Pro Swim Series stop in Westmont this past March. That means the Cardinal hacked .24 off his PB to land lane four for tomorrow night’s main event in Paris. It also means that Sheremet ties Bukhov’s Ukrainian national record from when he hit 21.38 to become the 2024 World Championships gold medalist in the event. We’ll see what transpires during tomorrow night’s final, but Sheremet ties Bukhov as the 19th-best performer of all-time and inserts himself into the season’s world rankings in slot #4. Not to be overlooked is the fact that Raif Tribuntsov delivered a new Estonian national in this event en route to placing 16th overall. He may have missed making the final; however, the 31-year-old veteran got under the 22-second threshold for the first time in his career. His time of 21.91 to place 16th in the splash n’ dash erased his former PB and the Estonian benchmark of 22.05 turned in last month. Men’s 50m Freestyle — Semifinals - World Record: 20.88 – Cam McEvoy, Australia (2026) - European Record: 20.94 – Fred Bousquet, France (2009) - Championship Record: 21.11 – Ben Proud, Great Britain (2018) - 2025 World Champion: Cam McEvoy (AUS), 21.14 - 2024 European Champion: Kristian Gkolomeev (GRE), 21.72 Top 8 Qualifiers: - Nikita Sheremet (Ukraine) — 21.38 - Egor Kornev (NAB) — 21.44 - Vladyslav Bukhov (Ukraine) — 21.51 - Andrej Barna (Serbia) — 21.52 - Kristof Milak (Hungary) — 21.58) - Tom Fannon (Ireland) — 21.65 - Giovanni Guatti (Italy)/Diogo Matos Ribeiro (Portugal) — 21.72 - (tie)