- Results
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- Day 1 prelims report
- Day 1 finals report
- Day 2 prelims report
- Day 2 finals report
- Day 3 prelims report
- Day 3 finals report
The men’s 200 free and women’s 200 breaststroke are among the prelims that await on day four of the European Championships in Parius.
David Popovici is the defending champion in the 200 free and returns to the pool the morning after his shuddering 46.56 victory over 100m. The Romanian won the 100/200 double at the previous two editions in 2022 and 2024 and is halfway to the treble treble here in Paris.
The two-per-nation rule will play its part this morning with four British men – Tom Dean, James Guy, Matt Richards and Jack McMillan – were set to line up but only two able to progress.
Angharad Evans returns after becoming the first British woman to win the 100m breaststroke to take on the 200,heats; world record-holder Kliment Kolesnikov goes in the 50 back; Simona Quadarella and Isabel Gose renew acquaintance in the 1500 free; Roos Vanotterdijk sets about the defence of the 100 fly and the men’s 4×100 free squads do battle.
Men’s 200 Free
The start lists named four British men – all of them towing Olympic and world relay titles – but Matt Richards didn’t appear in the seventh prelim where he was due to go alongside James Guy. Richards’ absence was a decision made by the swimmer and coaching staff rather than any illness, we’re told.
Guy guaranteed his progression in 1:45.40 leaving Jack McMillan and Tom Dean to battle it out for the second spot. Dean, winner of the Olympic title in 2021, posted 1:46.48 before McMillan went 0.12 quicker to progress in 1:46.36.
Christian Gieffing became the first Austrian man to break 1:45 when he topped prelims in 1:44.96 followed by Guy.
Sauveur Cristofini was third through, the 16-year-old posting 1:45.93, with Popovici next in 1:46.06. World junior champion Carlos D’Ambrosio clinched the final spot in 1:47.16.
Women’s 100 Fly
Vanotterdijk is a swimmer who’s made the transition from junior to senior waters. The Belgian, who is based in Antwerp, won three golds among five medals at the European U23 Championships in Samorin in June last year before heading to the World Championships. There she won 100 fly silver and bronze in the 50.
On Tuesday, Vanotterdijk won 50 fly silver as Sarah Sjöström clinched her sixth one-length crown and returned the following morning to post the fastest time in prelims of 56.76.
Angelina Kohler, the 2024 world champion, was 0.01 behind in 56.77.
Men’s 50 Back
This promises to be a ding-dong battle if the prelims are anything to go by with 24.88 the cutoff for progression the semis.
Kolesknikov, whose world record stands at 23.55, led the way in 24.12 ahead of fellow Neutral Athlete B swimmer Pavel Samusenko (24.13), Miroslav Knedla (24.19) and Ksawery Masiuk (24.46).
Georgii Iakovlev made it three Neutral Athletes in the top five but he was eliminated under the two-per-nation rule.
Also through were Apostolos Christou, Hubert Kos, Yohann Ndoye Brouard and Thomas Ceccon with Oli Morgan winning a three-way swimoff in 24.63.
Women’s 200m Breaststroke
Evans broke the championship record in each round of the 100 breast before winning gold in British record time on Wednesday evening although the 200 is a different proposition given it stands at 2:19.84 to Rikke Moller Pedersen since Berlin 2014.
She returned for the 200 where she pulled away from Mona McSharry – the 100 silver medallist – in the final prelim as the pair set the top two times of 2:22.66 and 2:23.37.
World record-holder Evgeniia Chikunova posted 2:24.18 with Anna Elendt safely through in 2:25.56.
Men’s 4×100 Free Relay
The Neutral Athletes B featured the fastest split of the field as Vasilii Kukushkin went 47.21 (21.84/25.37) on the third leg as three of the quartet posted 47s en-route to 3:12.31 and top spot.
Great Britain – with Duncan Scott splitting 47.82 – booked lane five in 3:12.80.
Also through were Croatia and Spain, who featured a 47.37 Luca Hoek split, and Hungary with Nandor Nemeth posting a 47.83 lead-off. The Netherlands, Norway and Germany progressed into Thursday’s final although there’ll be no place for Italy despite the presence of Alessandro Miressi and Leonardo Deplano, the quartet posting 3:15.59.
