Kristof Rasovszky was part of a near all-conquering Hungarian team which claimed five of the seven titles on offer during four days of action in Croatia.

In addition to the traditional 5km, 10km and 4x 1.5km disciplines, the competition also saw the first-ever European 3km knockout sprint event, a concept devised by World Aquatics and introduced into senior open water contests for the first time in 2025.

Rasovszky, who would attain medals in each of the four events he entered, also secured victory in the men’s 3km sprint, with former World junior champion Bettina Fabian (HUN) claiming the women’s maiden gold.

Other highlights included a breakthrough 10km success for Hungarian European marathon swimming debutant Viktoria Mihalyvari, while Italian Olympic medallists Ginevra Taddeucci and Gregorio Paltrinieri won the respective women’s and men’s 5km races.

Here World Aquatics takes a look at the most significant results from Stari Grad 2025 and assesses what it might mean for Singapore 2025 in less than two months.

Rasovszky Rules The Waves 

With European men having claimed each of the Olympic 10km marathon swimming medals from London 2012 to Paris 2024 and completed podium sweeps at each the last four editions of the World Championships, the continental contest is always highly anticipated.

In Stari Grad the world’s best reaffirmed old rivalries and began establishing new ones as well in the first European Championships of the LA 2028 Games cycle.

The 31-strong men’s 10km field featured two of the three Olympic medallists from last year’s Games, in the form of Hungarian winner Rasovszky and team-mate David Betlehem, together with Italian legend Paltrinieri and rising star Andrea Filadelli.  

World bronze medallist Hector Pardoe (GBR), and French duo Marc-Antoine Olivier, as well as Logan Fontaine were also highly fancied.

Training partners Rasovszky and Betlehem took an early lead before being joined by nine-time World champion Paltrinieri at the front of the field.

Rasovszky placed sixth and then 21^st in his first two 10km events following Paris 2024 and was eighth in World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup in April, so when Filadelli, as well as Sacha Velly, began to move into contention there were concerns the Hungarian may drop.

However, that proved not to be the case and in a thrilling finale the Hungarian proved he is back to peak powers by claim gold ahead of French duo Fontaine and Olivier.

Many of the same names would be in the mix for 5km medals too, with Paltrinieri, who was fourth in the marathon swimming event, this time securing top-spot ahead of Betlehem, with Rasovszky third.

The Hungarian pair would again celebrate success in the new 3km knock-out event, with Rasovszky topping the standings after three epic rounds, followed by Fontaine, with Betlehem completing the podium places.

Hungary, France and Italy were unsurprisingly the lead nations in the 4x1500m event, which concluded the four days of competition.

It would see Rasovszky claim his fourth medal and third gold, after partnering with Beltlehem as well as fellow gold medallists Fabian and Mihalyvari.

They, silver medallists France, third-place finishers Italy and the Germans, who were fourth, are all likely to be among the lead contenders for multiple honours come Singapore 2025.

“After seven years I’ve managed to get the gold medal at the European Championships, which is a really long time,” he said after the event. “The 10km really was the missing piece, so I’m I really wanted to make this happen.”

Fabian fantastic and Mihalyvari’s Maiden 10km medal

Viktoria Mihalyvari is no stranger to a major event podium, having claimed 400m individual medley silver at the age of 17 at the 2021 European Championships, which she followed up with gold 12 months later.

Open water racing is a relatively new challenge for the versatile swimmer, who has seemingly found it much less of a challenge than many would have anticipated.

Despite taking on an elite field, which included Olympic bronze medallist Ginevra Taddeucci and a host of season's contenders, the young Hungarian was undeterred and after taking the lead before the halfway stage, she controlled the pace.

Germany’s Lea Boy, as well as Taddeucci, Fabian and Maria De Valdes Alvarez of Spain would all push hard, but ultimately their battle would be for the ‘minor’ medals, with Mihalyvari ultimately taking gold ahead of Taddeucci and Boy.

“I would’ve liked to be first place after each lap, but it was hard and I was the best I could be,” Mihalyvari said after the race. “It’s a great feeling because I came back from the bottom and now I’m going in the right direction after this amazing race.”

24 hours later, Taddeucci would gain ‘revenge’ by edging out Mihalyvari to claim victory in the women’s 5km event, with De Valdes Alvarez rounding off the podium places.

The 3km sprint contest would see a complete change to the names securing the key top-three places though, with Mihalyvari exiting in the second round and Taddeucci placing fourth.

Speed specialist Fabian would win a highly entertaining contest ahead of Paula Otero Fernandez of Spain, with Boy placing third for the second time in three days.

Fabian and Mihalyvari paired with Hungarian male team-mates Rasovszky and Betlehem to secure the 4x1500m crown on the final day of competition.

“We change our team mates every year, as you can see, but I hope that we are going to make it to the World Championships and be able to win it,” said Fabian.

Taddeucci was part of the Italian line-up, also featuring Giulia Gabbrielleschi, Marcello Guidi and Paltrinieri, who were second.

With each of the 5km, 10km, 4x1500m set to feature in the Worlds programme in, together with the 3km sprint discipline for the first time at the global championships, Singapore 2025 promises to be one of the most entertaining competitions in recent memory.

For a full run-down of the results from the 2025 European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Championships, click here.