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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: Swimmer of the Meet: Simona Quadarella – Italy Simona Quadarella was the only woman to earn three gold medals at this meet, as she swept the distance freestyle events. She now has 11 gold medals at the European Championships, the fourth-most of anyone in history, and also moves up to tie as the fourth-most-decorated female swimmer in the history of the competition. Quadarella was a single hundredth of a second outside Jazmin Carlin’s Championship record in the 800 free on day 2 with an 8:15.55, then hacked four seconds off the Championship record in the 1500 free in 15:46.22 on day 5. A second Championship record came in the 400 free on the final day. The Italian swimmer notched a new personal best, dropping the hammer with a 59.59 final 100 to go from half a second down on Isabel Gose to nearly a second ahead at the finish. Quadarella hacked two seconds from her previous best of 4:03.35, moving up to rank all-time. She looked imperious all week, and thoroughly deserved all three titles. At 28 years old she is only getting better, and made sure to remind us of that fact here in Paris. Honorable Mentions: - Marrit Steenbergen (NED) – If this meet had 17 100 freestyles instead of 17 separate events, Steenbergen would probably have won them all despite swimming four or five times each evening. She was levels above the field in the 100 free, breaking the Championship record in all three rounds and notching yet another 51-point swim, her fifth ever, with a 51.90 in the final. Her relay splits were outstanding too. On two occasions she swam the fastest split of all time, first going 50.87 then 50.74, and was a key contributor to three relay medals for the Dutch. She added individual silver medals in the 100 back and 200 free, with a Dutch record to boot in the latter. One more individual gold and she takes this award, but outside of the 100 free she was merely world-class, not world-beating. - Sara Curtis (ITA) – Six medals made Curtis one of the most decorated swimmers at this meet, and she was the only woman to set a world record with two in the 50 back. This felt like the long course meet where Curtis showed her full potential, having threatened to do so over the last couple of years, and she should be a huge threat at the World Championships next year and in LA the year after. She broke 24 seconds in the 50 free, broke the world record in the 50 back, posted the 26th-fastest 100 free split of all time, and then broke the Italian record in the 100 back twice on the final day, hacking two seconds off her best. - Ellen Walshe (IRL) – The only woman other than Quadarella to win more than one individual title in Paris, Walshe backed up her fantastic performances at the European Short Course Championships with her first long course medals, and nothing other than gold would do. Walshe set new Irish records in both the IM events as she used a fantastic freestyle leg to come from behind and win gold both times, and then added two more Irish records in the final day in the 200 fly and 4×100 medley relay. She should be among the best in the world in Budapest next summer. - Angharad Evans (GBR) – Evans won just one European title this week, but was so good on the women’s medley relay that it almost feels criminal to leave her off this list. Gold in the 100 breast in a new British record of 1:04.87 was a huge moment for her, as she delivered the finals swim she has been promising for the last 24 months, and she added silver in the 200 breast after a fantastic battle with Evgeniia Chikunova. But it is that medley relay split – 1:03.75, fastest in history by two tenths of a second – that is most exciting. She could be the one to challenge Lilly King’s world record of 1:04.13 in the 100 breast. Breakout Swimmer of the Meet: Maya Werner – Germany Werner made the 400 free final at the World Championships last summer, but was still something of an outside shot for the podium in that event here and in the other distance free events, but swam three huge lifetime bests to come away with three bronze medals. A 24 second PB of 15:52.50 in the 1500 free saw her win bronze, having stuck with European record holder Simona Quadarella and 2024 World Championships medalist Isabel Gose through most of the race, and she did the same in the 400 free to hack a couple of seconds off her best there as well in 4:03.73. Werner had a good meet at the European Short Course Championships in December, winning silver in the 1500 free and bronze in the 800 free, but this was an even better one. That 400 free final in Singapore last summer was her first World Championships final. It will certainly not be her last. Honorable Mentions: - Keanna MacInnes (GBR) – MacInnes has been improving steadily year-on-year, but this has seemed like a big one for her. Having won double silver at a home Commonwealth Games, she then tied the British record in the 100 fly with a 57.25 for 5th here, then swam an exceptionally brave race in the 200 fly to hack nearly a second off her Scottish record and win gold in 2:05.90. She delivered two 56-point splits on relays, having never broken 57 seconds before, the second of which was key in helping Great Britain win gold in the women’s medley relay, notching a British record there as well. MacInnes had never made a European podium and has never made a world or Olympic final, but having ticked off the first of those the second now looks inevitable. - Camila Rodrigues Rebelo (POR) – Rebelo did win gold in the 200 back in 2024, but that was in a seriously reduced field. This year, her silver medal feels like a bigger deal and she broke 1:00 in the 100 back for the first time with a 59.90 in the semi-finals, breaking the Portuguese record in the process. Her 2:07.62 in the 200 back was also a new national record, and she lowered her best in that event by over a second and in the 100 by nearly half a second. European backstroke isn’t super deep right now, but Rebelo had a great week and should be a real factor at the world level now. Katie Shanahan, who dropped over a second to win the 200 back in 2:06.13, is in a similar boat after also breaking 1:00 in the 100 back for the first time. Junior Swimmer Of The Meet: Amalie Smith – Great Britain Smith was the only junior to win an individual medal in Paris, claiming silver in the 400 IM in 4:35.12 for her second-fastest swim ever. She was a finalist in the 200 IM, finishing 5th in 2:10.65, and swam in prelims for Great Britain’s 4×200 free relay which won gold. Smith already owned the European junior record in the 400 IM with the 4:33.70 she swam at the Commonwealth Games, where she also won silver, but now owns five of the six fastest junior swims in European history. With another year still as a junior, she could put a stranglehold on the top ten. Two finals and two top-five finishes at 16 is seriously impressive from the British youngster, who has swum 4:35 or better at three separate meets in the last six weeks, winning European junior gold, Commonwealth silver, and now European silver. Honorable Mentions: - Irene Ciercoles Galve (ESP) – Just 16 years old, Ciercoles Galve broke 1:00 on the 100 back for the first time with a 59.77 in the semi-finals, and lowered her PB again with a 59.65 for 5th in the final. She added a third sub-1:00 swim in the heats of the women’s medley relay, and threw down 100 free splits of 53.60, 53.46 and 53.35. Ciercoles Galve sliced six tenths of a second off her best in the 100 free with a 54.06 leadoff in the heats of the women’s 4×100 free, and was more than two seconds under her flat start best of 2:01.00 with identical 1:58.66 splits in prelims and finals of the women’s 4×200 free relay. She had a strong European Junior Championships last month, winning 100 back gold in 1:00.06, but was even better here and was one of Spain’s key swimmers. To be as key as Ciercoles Galve was in her first senior meet is tough, but to perform every single time is even harder. This was her best-ever meet, and what a stage she chose for it. - Ieva Jurkunaite (LTU) – Jurkunaite hacked nearly two seconds off her Lithuanian record in the 200 free in Paris, qualifying second-fastest out of the heats and then progressing to the final with a 1:56.90. She placed 5th in the final at just 16 years old, swimming the second-fastest time of her career in 1:57.26, nearly matching the fourth-place finish she notched at the European Junior Championships last month. She then split 1:56.60 and 1:56.40 on the mixed 4×200 free relay, swimming a courageous race in the final as she drew herself level with Neutral Athletes B at the final turn in the battle for bronze, and she looks to have a very bright future ahead of her. - Linda Roth (GER) – Roth won bronze at the European Junior Championships ahead of Jurkunaite, and was one spot ahead of her again in the final here with a 1:56.71 for 4th, just off the huge lifetime best of 1:56.46 she clocked in the semi-finals. Roth split 1:56.33 on the women’s 4×200 free relay as Germany finished an agonising 0.01 seconds off bronze, but returned to split 1:57.18 as they won silver in the mixed 4×200 free. She also made the 200 IM semi-finals in Paris and was the 5th-fastest swimmer in the 400 free heats, missing out on the final with teammates Isabel Gose and Maya Werner ahead of her. Swims Of The Meet - Angharad Evans, Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay – Evans threw down the fastest split of all time in the women’s 100 breast, with every hundredth of a scarcely believable 1:03.75 being needed as Great Britain won the women’s medley relay by just a tenth of a second. She disintegrated most of the field, in the way that a prime Adam Ramsay-Peaty used to do, and is easily the best female 100 breaststroker in the world right now. Also, her split was just 4.65 seconds slower than Adam Peaty’s split on the mixed medley relay, which should make it a no-brainer to not use a female swimmer on that leg next year. Somehow, after a decade of Adam Ramsay-Peaty, it is Great Britain who will be going against convention on that leg - Marrit Steenbergen, Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay/Mixed 4×100 Free Relay – We are grouping two Marrit Steenbergen swims into one here, because she did the same thing both times – threw down the fastest 100 free split in history to drag the Netherlands from way back to win silver. The first was a 50.87 on the mixed medley that took them from 6th to 2nd, winning silver from lane 1, and the latter was an even-faster 50.74 to come within two tenths of a second of winning gold in the mixed 4×100 free. On both occasions she made the rest of the field look as though they were swimming in treacle. There have only been three splits in history under 51 seconds – Steenbergen delivered two of them this week. - Sara Curtis, Women’s 50 back final – Curtis had already broken the world record with a 26.63 in the semi-finals, but putting half a second between her and a genuinely world-class field in the final was a stunning performance. She led clearly by the halfway point and was never in danger of losing gold, the only question being if she could beat her own time from the night before – and she did in 26.56. - Mary-Ambre Moluh, Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay Final (Leadoff) – Mixed medley relays are generally not the easiest place to be a female backstroker, especially when you are swimming in between Kliment Kolesnikov and Ivan Martinez Sota, but Moluh did far more than just struggle through. She set a European record despite the wash, breaking 58 seconds for the first time – and the first time in history by a European women – in 57.99, despite having whatever the opposite of clean water is called. She was slightly faster again in the individual final at 57.94, but being as quick as she was under the conditions she did it in made this an even more impressive swim. Races Of The Meet - Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay Final – What a gift it was to have the final women’s event of the meet be such a good race. Sara Curtis kicked it off with an Italian record on the leadoff, then we saw the fastest split in history on breaststroke from Angharad Evans. Daria Klepikova’s lightning-fast fly split made it three teams in a row at the final takeover, just two tenths of a second separating Italy, Great Britain, and Neutral Athletes B, and the spread was just 0.29 seconds at the finish. Freya Colbert back-halved her split to run down Emma Menicucci and Italy in the final five meters, having looked out of it with 15 to go, and all three nations were under the previous Championship record of 3:54.01. - Women’s 50 Free Final – How many times have we seen Sarah Sjostrom get her nose out in front by halfway and then power to the finish to win gold in the 50 free? It feels like too many to count, but this time 34-year-old Kasia Wasick had other ideas. She outpaced Sjostrom down the stretch, getting to the wall just 0.02 seconds ahead of her, to set a new Polish record. Sara Curtis was just over a tenth of a second back, as all three women broke 24 seconds. - Women’s 50 Breast Final – Ruta Meilutyte and Benedetta Polato were going stroke for stroke down the first 40 meters, but the Italian edged ahead as they came into the final 10 and looked destined to snap the Lithuanian’s streak of world and European titles. Instead, in the tightest podium possible, Meilutyte took gold in 29.93 to Pilato’s 29.94, with Mona McSharry scorching the final 5 to win bronze out of lane 1 in 29.95. How Meilutyte got her hand to the wall first we may never know. But she is still unbeaten in the 50 breast this decade - Women’s 200 IM Final – Roos Vanotterdijk was the rabbit for the rest of the field in this race, going out in 59.47, but there was only a second separating six swimmers as they turned for home. Abbie Wood had gone from 4th to 1st on breaststroke, but it was Ireland’s Ellen Walshe who closed fastest out of lane 1 to win her second medal. Just three tenths of a second separated the top four finishers, with Anita Gastaldi getting her first individual international medal, Vanotterdijk holding on for bronze, and Wood falling back to 4th. Breakout Nation: Ireland Five medals, two from Ellen Walshe and three from Mona McSharry, made for a hugely successful meet, and the national record in the women’s medley relay at the end was the icing on the cake. Irish swimming has been on the up for a few years now, with McSharry and Walshe turning their promise as juniors into senior success, and they could really establish themselves at the European level now. Ellie McCartney made the 200 breast final after winning bronze at the Commonwealth Games, setting a new best of 2:24.15 in the semi-finals, and was a semi-finalist in the 100 breast and 200 IM. Grace Davison had a key anchor leg for the record-setting medley relay, and made the 100 back semi-finals. McSharry proved herself one of the best all-around breaststrokers on the continent, and Walshe was phenomenal in the IMs. An eighth-place finish in the medal table, all due to the women, was a just reward here. Honorable Mention: - Spain – Spain made every relay final, had Irene Ciercoles Galve throw down some strong relay splits at just 16 years old, got a national record from Maria Ramos Najji in the 50 breast, and then capped things off with a medal for Laura Cabanes Garzas in the 200 fly on the final day. Carmen Weiler Sastre, their European short course champion, was not in attendance here, but a relatively young squad stepped up. After a few years in the international wilderness after Mireia Belmosnte Garcia’s retirement, Spain look as though they are back in the picture. The Sarah Sjostrom and Ingeborg Loyning Award For Just Being Incredibly Inspirational Neither Sjostrom nor Loyning competed last summer with both women giving birth in August, Sjostrom to her son Adrian and Loyning to her (and Kyle Chalmers’) daughter Astrid. Less than a year on they are both not only competing again, but competing at a high level. Loyning made the semi-finals in the 50 back, just four tenths off her Norwegian record of 28.05, while Sjostrom won gold in the 50 fly and silver in the 50 free. Both are incredibly inspiring. For a separate reason, Freya Anderson deserves a mention here. She was diagnosed with endometriosis while on a training camp for the World Championships last summer, which she realised had been the cause of several medical issues over the previous few years. She underwent surgery in December, and has spoken candidly about her experience both as part of her Fast and Female initiative and in numerous interviews. She won two gold medals this year, on the women’s 4×200 free and mixed 4×200 free, to become the fourth-most-decorated women in European Championships history with 11 gold medals, tied with Quadarella, and is the top Brit on that list. After the struggles she has had, she looked as good as she has since the 2023 World Championships here.