Day 7 Finals Live Recap

2026 European Swimming Championships

DAY 7 FINALS  START LIST

Well, here we are swimming fans: we’ve reached the final session of the 2026 European Championships. It’s been an exceptional week of racing and we’ve got 11 more champions to crown before the meet ends.

Tonight’s fireworks kick off with the men’s 50 freestyle final. There was some speculation Egor Kornev would make a run at Cameron McEvoy‘s world record during the semifinals after swimming a Russian record 21.06 earlier this season. Instead, the Ukrainian pair of Nikita Sheremet and Vladyslav Bukhov swept the semifinals, with Sheremet tying Bukov’s Ukrainian record with a 21.38 for the top seed. Kornev logged a 21.44 and could still make a push for the world record tonight, while Kristof Milak (21.58) has been excellent in all his events this week.

We’ll stay with the sprints for the next event, the women’s 50 breaststroke. Benedetta Pilato and Eneli Jefimova were the only two women to break 30 seconds in the semifinals, but Ruta Meilutyte (30.05) was right there and has a long list of accolades in this event–including reigning world champion and world record holder.

Then, we’ll shift for some 200s, starting with the men’s 200 IM final. We saw Hubert Kos go out fast in his semifinal, like he did in the men’s 200 butterfly final (the first swim of his double yesterday). But Hugo Gonzalez tracked him down on the freestyle leg and will be top seed after breaking Laszlo Cseh‘s championships record (1:56.61). Duncan Scott, the two-time Olympic silver medalist and last year’s Worlds bronze winner, is also in the field (1:57.49). The women’s 200 butterfly is a wide open race. Emily Richards swam a lifetime best to secure lane four (2:07.10) but Helena Rosendahl Bach, Ellen Walshe, and Keanna Macinnes are all threats for the title as well.

No one really showed their cards in the men’s 100 backstroke semifinals. The finalists are separated by just .35 seconds heading into the final. Three men broke 53 seconds in the semifinals, led by Georgii Iakovlev (52.89) who did so for the first time. World record holder Thomas Ceccon is just behind him (52.93) and is known for managing his energy through the early rounds. Apostolos Christou (52.94), Pavel Samusenko, Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, Mewen Tomac, and Ksawery Masiuk are all medal threats as well.

We’ve gotten used to seeing the 400m freestyle on the first night of competition at the Olympics and World Championships level in recent years. But now, here it is on the final night of competition. How that will affect the race remains to be seen. The women’s 400 freestyle looks like another battle between Isabel Gose, Simona Quadarella, and Maya Werner.

Meanwhile, world record holder and reigning Olympic champion Lukas Märtens narrowly qualified for the men’s final and will swim out of lane eight as he looks to retake the European title for the first time since 2022. Germany still has the top seed though, thanks to Oliver Klemet (3:45.22). Hungary qualified both Oliver Papai and Zalan Sarkany. Before the meet, it was unclear how Leon Marchand‘s injury would affect him, even with his reduced individual event schedule. He’s shown that he’s on form, claiming his first individual European title yesterday in the 200 butterfly. It will be a busy day for Marchand, as he’s set to swim fly on the French men’s 4×100 medley relay.

The final individual events of these championships are the women’s para 100 freestyle and the men’s para 50 freestyle. Irene Van Drimmelen and Alexander Hillhouse aim to sweep the sprints after their wins yesterday. Defne Kurt will once again be a serious challenge for Van Drimmelen after she narrowly missed the 50 freestyle S10 world record twice yesterday (both by less than .05 seconds).

Men’s 50m Freestyle — Final

• 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, Australia — 21.14
• 2024 European Champion: Kristian Gkolomeev, Greece — 21.72

Final: 

1. Nikita Sheremet (Ukraine) — 21.13
2. Egor Kornev (NAB)/Andrej Barna (Serbia) — 21.37
3. (tie)
4. Kristof Milak (Hungary) — 21.46
5. Vladyslav Bukhov (Ukraine) — 21.58
6. Tom Fannon (Ireland)/Diogo Matos Ribeiro (Portugal) — 21.59
7. (tie)
8. Giovanni Guatti (Italy) — 21.83

That was an excellent race to kick off the meet. Top seed Nikita Sheremet turned on the jets in the second half of the splash-and-dash, powering through to the front of the field. He was able to get his hand on the wall first and claim his first senior European title in 21.13. In the semifinals, he tied Vladyslav Bukhov‘s Ukrainian record of 21.38, now he’s taken sole control of the record with a .25 second drop. Sheremet also just missed the championship record by two-hundredths, which was set by Ben Proud in 2018 and has shot up the all-time rankings into the top 10.

Egor Kornev and Andrej Barna tied for silver in 21.37. Barna’s swim marked a Serbian record for him. The time and the silver medal highlight the journey Barna has been on–he’s dropped over a half-second in the past couple seasons, which has transformed him into a medal contender in this event. Barna won his first two European Championship medals in 2024, picking up gold as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay and bronze in the 100 freestyle. This is his first 50 freestyle medal at a major senior international competition.

Kristof Milak continued his excellent meet with a 4th place finish here, taking a couple more hundredths off his lifetime best. He was just .04 seconds off Krisztian Takacs‘ super-suited national record.

Women’s 50m Breaststroke — Final

Final:

1. Ruta Meilutyte (Lithuania) — 29.93
2. Benedetta Pilato (Italy) — 29.94
3. Mona McSharry (Ireland) — 29.95
4. Eneli Jefimova (Estonia) — 30.00
5. Anna Elendt (Germany) — 30.35
6. Veera Kivirinta (Finland) — 30.41
7. Florine Gaspard (Belgium) — 30.74
8. Maria Ramos Najji (Spain) — 30.95

Well, it’s hard to get a much closer podium than that.

As the finalists streaked towards the wall, it looked like Benedetta Pilato was on her way to gold. But, world record holder Ruta Meilutyte and 100 breaststroke Olympic bronze medalist Mona McSharry were both charging, with Eneli Jefimova in the mix as well.

Meilutyte has been on top in this event for so long and she was able to take advantage of an ill-timed finish from Pilato. It gave her the slight opening she needed and Meilutyte got her hands on the wall just a hundredth ahead of Pialto to add another gold medal to her collection.

Meilutyte touched in 29.93, with Pilato clocking 29.94 for silver. And as if that wasn’t enough, McSharry took the final spot on the podium with a 29.95 from lane one, just .01 seconds away from Pilat0.

Men’s 200m Individual Medley — Final

Final: 

1. Hubert Kos (Hungary) — 1:54.24 *Championship Record*
2. Hugo Gonzalez (Spain) — 1:54.44
3. Mikhail Shcherbakov (NAB) — 1:56.16 *World Junior Record*
4. Duncan Scott (Great Britain) — 1:56.32
5. Alberto Razzetti (Italy) — 1:56.60
6. Max Litchfield (Great Britain) — 1:58.24
7. Jan Cejka (Czechia) — 1:59.16
8. Ilia Borodin (NAB) — 1:59.62

Hubert Kos took the men’s 200 IM final out fast, repeating the same strategy he took in the semifinals to push the pace on his best strokes, butterfly and backstroke. He split 23.82 on the butterfly leg, opening up a gap of over a half-second on Hugo Gonzalez (24.43). Kos continued open up his advantage on the backstroke, firing off a 27.80 split. He made the halfway turn in a blistering 51.62. That put him 1.79 seconds ahead of Gonzalez, who was still running second.

Kos held onto the lead after the breaststroke leg (33.98) though Gonzalez had closed the gap a bit with a field-best 33.17 split. Gonzalez ran Kos down on the freestyle leg during the semifinals. He almost did the same in the final, splitting 27.86 to Kos’ 28.64, but ran out of room to close down the massive lead that Kos had built.

Kos touched the wall in a 1:54.24, breaking the championship record Gonzalez set yesterday. His time also breaks the Hungarian record, which Laszlo Cseh set at 1:55.18 at the 2009 World Championships. Kos is now the 4th fastest performer in history. Gonzalez’s 1:54.44 marks a new Spanish record for him, taking nearly two seconds off the 1:56.31 mark he swam in 2021. He moves up from 24th fastest performer to 6th.

Mikhal Shcherbakov rounded out the podium with a 1:56.16. That was a massive swim for him as he broke the world junior record. He was 4th at the final wall but out-split Duncan Scott on the freestyle leg to beat him for the final spot on the podium by .16 seconds.

Women’s 200m Butterfly — Final

• World Record: 2:01.65 – Summer McIntosh, Canada (2026)
• European Record: 2:04.27 – Katinka Hosszu, Hungary (2009)
• Championship Record: 2:04.79 – Mireia Belmonte, Spain (2014)
• 2025 World Champion: Summer McIntosh, Canada — 2:01.99
• 2024 European Champion: Helena Rosendahl Bach, Denmark — 2:07.88

Final: 

1. Keanna Macinnes (Great Britain) — 2:05.90
2. Helena Rosendahl Bach (Denmark) — 2:06.14
3. Laura Cabanes Garzas (Spain) — 2:07.21
4. Ellen Walshe (Ireland) — 2:07.40
5. Emily Richards (Great Britain) — 2:07.77
6. Paola Borrelli (Italy) — 2:08.23
7. Lana Pudar (Bosnia & Herzegovina) — 2:11.14
8. Sarah Dumont (Belgium) — 2:11.18

Great Britain’s Keanna Macinnes led the women’s 200 butterfly final from wire-to-wire. It was a statement swim from Macinnes to claim her first European title. She went out hard, turning at the 100m mark in 59.67. She was the only woman out under 1:00 as defending champion Helena Rosendahl Bach turned second in 1:00.15.

Macinnes tightened up on the final 50 meters with a 33.58 split, but still held off Bach’s 33.39 close for gold. She touched in 2:05.90, breaking 2:06 for the first time in her career. Her best coming into the meet was the 2:06.76 she swam at last month’s Commonwealth Games. Bach touched in 2:06.14. This is her third-straight European Championships on the 200 butterfly podium; before winning gold in 2024, she took silver at the 2022 championships.

Yesterday, Ellen Walshe put in a huge effort on the closing freestyle leg of the 200 IM to win gold. She had another massive closing 50 meters in this race, splitting 32.57 on the final 50 meters. She moved from 6th to 4th on the final meters, just running out of room to track down the bronze medalist Laura Cabanes Garzas. 

Men’s 100m Backstroke — Final

• World Record: 51.60 – Thomas Ceccon, Italy (2022)
• European Record: 51.60 – Thomas Ceccon, Italy (2022)
• Championship Record: 52.11 – Camille Lacourt, France (2010)
• 2025 World Champion: Pieter Coetze, South Africa — 51.85
• 2024 European Champion: Apostolos Christou, Greece — 52.23

Final: 

1. Apostolos Christou (Greece) — 52.27
2. Thomas Ceccon (Italy) — 52.28
3. Pavel Samusenko (NAB) — 52.57
4. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (France) — 52.71
5. Georgii Iakovlev (NAB) — 52.73
6. Ksawery Masiuk (Poland) — 52.92
7. Mewen Tomac (France) — 53.47
8. Jack Skerry (Great Britain) — 53.65

The men’s 100 backstroke was another final this evening where it came down to the touch to decide the winner. Thomas Ceccon, the world record holder and reigning Olympic champion, had the lead at the 50 meter mark in 25.16. Pavel Samusenko flipped a hundredth behind Ceccon, with Georgii Iakovlev sitting third in 25.24.

Apostolos Christou was fourth at the turn with a 25.48. He won silver in Paris in the 200 backstroke, winning Greece’s first pool swimming medal at the Olympic Games since 1896. He found another gear on the back half of this race, splitting a massive 26.79. No other man in the final was sub-27 seconds on the closing 50 meters. Christou and Ceccon both lunged for the wall at the same time and at the touch, Christou got the better of Ceccon, 52.27 to 52.28.

Samusenko held on to take bronze with a 52.57. Ndoye-Brouard was the best of the two Frenchmen in the final, taking 4th in 52.71. He moved up from 6th to 4th with a 27.03 back-half effort.

Women’s 400m Freestyle –Final

Final: 

1. Simona Quadarella (Italy) — 4:01.34 *Championship Record*
2. Isabel Gose (Germany) — 4:02.41
3. Maya Werner (Germany) — 4:03.73
4. Francisca Soares Martins (Portugal) — 4:06.93
5. Kseniia Misharina (NAB) — 4:07.76
6. Barbora Seemanova (Czechia) — 4:08.16
7. Sarah Dumont (Belgium) — 4:08.20
8. Artemis Vasilaki (Greece) — 4:11.98

Francisca Soares Martins and Kseniia Misharina were the first two swimmers to turn at the 100-meters mark but by the halfway point the German duo of Isabel Gose and Maya Werner had taken over. Gose flipped at the halfway point in 1:59.86 with Werner back at 2:00.12. Simona Quadarella was hanging third in 2:00.39. She continued to mark the German pair closely over the middle 100s of this 400 freestyle final.

Quadarella made her move on the final 100. She moved into 2nd with a 30.31 split at the 350 meter mark. Then, she split 29.28 on the final 50 meters, pulling away from Gose down the closing stretch. She hit the wall in 4:01.34, completing the distance freestyle triple crown in championship record fashion. Her time cracked the championship record that Federica Pellegrini set at the 2008 European Championships (4:01.53).

It’s also a lifetime best for Quadarella, breaking the 4:03.35 she swam back in 2018.

If this entire podium–and the finish order–looks familiar, it’s because it’s exactly the same as the 800 and 1500 freestyle podiums, down to the finish order. Once again, Gose and Werner finished with silver and bronze, collecting another double podium for Germany’s distance freestyle program. Gose touched in 4:02.41, with Werner clocking 4:03.73.

Sarah Dumont pulled the 200 butterfly/400 freestyle double today. She completed that back-to-back with a seventh in the 400 free (4:08.20).

Men’s 400m Freestyle — Final

Final: 

1. Leon Marchand (France) — 3:43.14
2. Oliver Papai (Hungary) — 3:44.46
3. Lukas Märtens (Germany) — 3:44.57
4. Lucas Henveaux (Belgium) — 3:44.64
5. Oliver Klemet (Germany) — 3:45.16
6. Zalan Sarkany (Hungary) — 3:46.99
7. Victor Johansson (Sweden) — 3:47.19
8. Petar Mitsin (Bulgaria) — 3:47.42

Leon Marchand was always going to be the dark horse in this race. He fired off a lifetime best 3:44.70 at the 2025 U.S. Open Championships but that just seemed to scratch the surface of what he was capable of in this race. The only touchpoint for his middle distance freestyle skill was really his success in the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships.

Then, he got injured, throwing his participation in these championships in doubt. He announced he would keep this event and the 200 butterfly as his only individual events but it was unclear what form he would bring to Paris this year.

One day after winning the 200 butterfly and claiming his first European title, Marchand has added a second European title to his growing list of accolades. Marchand led this 400 freestyle final from start-to-finish. He opened with a 52.70, then made the 200 meter turn in 1:49.49. Top-seeded Oliver Klemet was .89 seconds behind Marchand and the halfway point. It looked like he might be about to mount a charge, but Marchand extended his lead on the third 100 with a 57.24 split.

Marchand split 28.40/28.01 over the final 100 meters, doing more than eight dolphin kicks off the final wall and putting even more distance between himself and the rest of the field. Marchand hit the wall in a lifetime best 3:43.14 for gold in French record time.

16-year-old Oliver Papai was one of the surprises of the heats this morning, qualifying second overall. He maintained that position in the final, dropping more time with a 3:44.46 to continue moving up the all-time junior rankings. He had a massive final 100 meters; after coming off the 300 meter turn in 6th, he split 28.18/27.01 to land himself a spot on the podium.

Lukas Märtens squeaked into the final in eighth spot. The reigning Olympic champion was not on his world record form in this race. He was hanging around in fifth for the majority of the race but found the speed over the closing 100 meters to move up to the bronze medal position. Märtens split 27.09–just off Papai’s field-best closing 50 meters–to go from fifth into bronze with a 3:44.57. He out-touched Belgium’s Lucas Henveaux by seven-hundredth for the final spot on the podium. Henveaux’s 3:44.64 is just three-hundredths off his lifetime best.

Men’s Para 50m Freestyle (Combined Class) — Final

Final: 

1. Rogier Dorsman (Netherlands), S11 — 821 points
2. Alexander Hillhouse (Denmark), S14 — 812 points
3. Marco Meneses (Portugal), S11 — 779 points
4. Thijs Van Hofweegen (Netherlands), S6 — 772 points
5. Diogo Cancela (Portugal), S11 — 779 points
6. Thomas van Wanrooij (Netherlands), S13 — 673 points
7. Andreas Ernhofer (Austria), S4 — 649 points
8. Andreas Onea (Austria), S8 — 490 points

The close racing this session continued in the men’s para 50 freestyle final. This time, it was Rogier Dorsman getting the better of Alexander Hillhouse for gold by nine points. Dorsman notched 821 points to get the win. He is a multi-time world champion in this event, winning the S11 classification at the 2022 and 2023 World Para Swimming Championships.

Hillhouse scored 812 points to add a silver medal to his collection from these championships. He won gold in the men’s para multi-class 100 freestyle final yesterday. It was the same three men collecting the medals in today’s 50 freestyle event as Marco Meneses once again earned bronze. He scored 779 points to take bronze today, just off the 785 points he scored to win bronze in the 100 freestyle.

Women’s Para 100m Freestyle (Combined Class) — Final

Final: 

1. Defne Kurt (Turkey), S10 — 913 points
2. Irene van Drimmelen (Netherlands), S11 — 847 points
3. Liesette Bruinsma (Netherlands), S11 — 820 points
4. Lisa Kruger (Netherlands), S10 — 802 points
5. Janina Falk (Austria), S14 — 684 points
6. Susana Veiga (Portugal), S9 – -657 points
7. Agata Koupilova (Czechia), S5 — 653 points
8. Susannah Kaul (Estonia), S10 — 646 points

Yesterday, it was Irene van Drimmelen getting the better of Defne Kurt in the women’s para 50 freestyle event. Today, their positions were reversed, like Dorsman and Hillhouse on the men’s side.

Kurt stormed to the win by collecting 913 points in the 100 freestyle to win this race. Van Drimmelen scored 847 for silver, once again leading a strong Dutch contingent. They finished 1-3-4 yesterday and went 2-3-4 here, with Liesette Bruinsma taking bronze. Bruinsma scored 820 points, edging out Kruger by eight points.

Women’s 4x100m Medley — Final

• World Record: 3:49.34 – USA (Smith, Douglass, Walsh, Huske) (2025)
• European Record: 3:53.38 (Fesikova, Efimova, Chimrova, Popova) – Russia (2017)
• Championship Record: 3:54.01 – Great Britain (Dawson, Renshaw, Stephens, Hopkin) (2021)
• 2025 World Champion: USA (Smith, Douglass, Walsh, Huske) — 3:49.34
• 2024 European Champion: Poland (Piskorska, Sztandera, Peda, Fiedkiewicz) — 3:58.71

Final: 

1. Great Britain (Cox, Evans, Macinnes, Colbert) — 3:53.50 *Championship Record*
2. Italy (Curtis, Pilato, Gastaldi, Menicucci) — 3:53.60
3. NAB (Gaifutdinova, Chikunova, Klepikova, Manokhina) — 3:53.79
4. Germany — 3:56.21
5. France — 3:56.63
6. Ireland — 3:57.26
7. Netherlands — 3:59.33
8. Spain — 4:00.25

It was a battle all the way to the touch in the final women’s event of these European Aquatic Championships. Sara Curtis gave Italy the lead after the backstroke leg with a 58.43, resetting the Italian record she set in the heats this morning (58.75). European record holder Mary-Ambre Moluh was second for France in 58.62, with NAB’s Alina Gaifutdinova in third (59.14), and Great Britain’s Lauren Cox fourth (59.67).

The Italians kept the lead after the breaststroke leg. Pilato split 1:04.53. Angharad Evans pulled the Brits into second with with fastest breaststroke leg in history, firing off a 1:03.75. That surpasses the 1:03.95 Yuliya Efimova swam at the 2018 European Championships, which was the old fastest 100 breaststroke split. Pilato (1:04.53) and McSharry (1:04.72) also moved into the top 10 all-time in those ranings.

Anita Gastaldi‘s 57.07 butterfly split kept Italy in the lead, but it was much closer now. Macinnes split 56.81 fresh off her 200 butterfly European title. The Brits were .20 seconds off the lead, with the NAB quartet a hundredth behind them following Daria Klepikova‘s 55.65 butterfly leg.

It came down to the freestyle leg between these two teams. Freya Colbert had the best anchor leg, splitting 53.27. Great Britain, Italy, and the NAB teams barreled under the flags together. At the touch, Colbert’s anchor leg got the job done as she stopped the clock in 3:53.50 for gold. The British team did not lead at any point in the race except for the finish and walk away with new Championship and national records.

Italy took silver in 3:53.60, a tenth behind Great Britain. That’s a new national record for them as well, smashing the 3:55.79 swam in the heats of the Tokyo Games. The NAB squad too bronze in 3:53.79, meaning the whole podium was separated by .29 seconds.

Men’s 4x100m Medley — Final

• World Record: 3:26.78 — USA (Murphy, Andrew, Dressel, Apple) (2021)
• European Record: 3:26.93 – NAB (Lifintsev, Prigoda, Minakov, Kornev) (2025)
• Championship Record: 3:28.46 – Italy (Ceccon, Martinenghi, Rivolta, Miressi) (2022)
• 2025 World Champion: NAB (Lifintsev, Prigoda, Minakov, Kornev) — 3:26.93
• 2024 European Champion: Austria (Reitshammer, Bayer, Bucher, Gigler) — 3:33.41

Final: 

1. NAB (Kolesnikov, Kozhakin, Minakov, Kornev) — 3:28.67
2. Italy (Ceccon, Martinenghi, Razzetti, D’Ambrosio) — 3:28.86
3. France (Ndoye-Brouard, Aitkaci, Marchand, Grousset) — 3:29.03
4. Great Britain — 3:29.11
5. Germany — 3:31.55
6. Spain — 3:32.15
7. Denmark — 3:32.44
8. Switzerland — 3:32.49

Kliment Kolesnikov rocketed out to an early lead on backstroke during the men’s 4×100 medley relay final. He came back to the field during the final 25 meters and it was actually Great Britain’s Ollie Morgan that handed his breaststroker the lead, clocking 52.51. Ceccon touched second (52.72), with Kolesnikov third (53.00).

Nicolo Martinenghi, the double 50 and 100 breaststroke champion at these championships, pulled Italy into the lead after his leg with a 58.00 split. Adam Ramsay-Peaty kept the Brits in second (58.56) and NAB was third with Ivan Kozhakin‘s 58.48.

The butterfly leg was chaotic, with fast splits all over the field. Great Britain had the lead at the final exchange after Ed Mildred‘s 50.56. Though the French team was still fourth behind NAB ad Italy, Marchand pulled them alot closer to the fight for gold with a 49.64 split. However, that was not the fastest split in the field, as Noe Ponti ripped a 49.40 split. Ponti is now the third-fastest performer on the fastest 100 butterfly split rankings, while Marchand is fifth.

Meanwhile, back at the front of the race, Andrei Minakov swam 50.34 to put the NAB squad into second ahead of the Italians.

The freestyle leg saw four teams fighting for the three spots on the podium. Egor Kornev swam 46.85 on the anchor leg, which got the job done for the NAB quartet. He hit the wall in 3:28.67 for gold. Carlos D’Ambrosio held on to get the Italians silver in 3:28.86. He split 47.01, fending off a charge from Maxime Grousset (46.91). Grousset’s split was enough to edge out the British team for the final spot on the podium, 3:29.03 to 3:29.11.

Luca Hoek Le Guenedal tied Kornev for the fastest freestyle split in the field (46.85) on Spain’s sixth-place relay.