Women’s 100m Medley Final | "I love the 100m IM. I don't do it often, but when I do it, I want to do it right." - Marrit Steenbergen

Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands opened her night with a commanding win in the women’s 100m medley, taking the title in a European and Championship record of 56.26. She surged into the lead at the halfway mark and held firm through the final freestyle leg, lowering the previous European record of 56.41 set by Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu in 2017.

“I’m so happy to be swimming a PB and a European Record,” Steenbergen said to European Aquatics. “It’s just crazy! Beforehand, I wanted to go 56 because I had been 57 low this season, so I thought, ‘Ok, I’m feeling good, so I want to go 56,’ but I didn’t expect to go 56 low. I mean, that’s just crazy.”

Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk, 20, claimed her second silver of the meet in 56.80. Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko, 22, took bronze in 57.17.

Women’s 200m Freestyle Final | Double Dutch Golden Delight for Steenbergen

Just 10 minutes after collecting her medley gold, Steenbergen returned to the blocks and delivered again. She led from start to finish in the women’s 200m freestyle, clocking 1:50.33 to break the 2017 European and Championship record of 1:50.43 held by Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström.

Hungary’s Minna Abraham, 18, earned silver in 1:51.47, while Great Britain’s Freya Colbert took bronze in 1:51.94.

Men’s 1500m Freestyle Final | "I'll be honest, I counted myself out at about halfway" - Daniel Wiffen

Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen capped his competitive comeback — following recent appendix surgery — with a dramatic late surge to win the men’s 1500m freestyle in 14:13.96.

Wiffen, the Olympic 800m champion and triple distance gold medalist from the 2023 edition in Otopeni, tracked Hungary’s Zalan Sarkany for much of the race. Sarkany, the world short course 800m champion, led by more than a second entering the final 100 meters, but Wiffen overpowered him with a decisive closing sprint.

“It was a very hard race, the pace was very fast so I was struggling a bit in the middle. I'll be honest, I counted myself out at about halfway.” he said. ”But I kept a level head throughout, and I was able to push at the end, so I was very happy.

"It means the world that I could get my hand on the wall first and see that European title, back-to-back. My first title defense secured, because I've lost a couple," Wiffen said with a bit of a giggle. 

Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, a four-time open-water gold medalist at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, earned bronze in 14:19.26 after holding off Hungary’s David Betlehem (14:19.65).

Men’s 100m Medley Final | Ponto Holds off Grousset

Switzerland’s Noe Ponti claimed his second gold of the meet — and the only title that eluded him at the 2023 championships — by winning the men’s 100m medley in a Championship record of 50.52.

Ponti held the lead throughout but only narrowly held off France’s Maxime Grousset, who finished just 0.01 back. Austria’s Heiko Gigler took bronze in 51.60.

“It was good – it was very good,” Ponti said. “It was hard – but it was very good. I was ready to go 50 point and I was able to do that and I was able to get the job done.”

Grousset added, “It was a good race but to lose on just a very close margin with Noe was tough. But I love this battle and I hope the next race will be mine!”

Men’s 200m Freestyle Final | 1,2 for Great Britain

Great Britain went 1–2 in the men’s 200m freestyle, with Duncan Scott taking gold in 1:40.54. Scott seized the lead after two lengths and never surrendered it. His training partner Jack McMillan added silver in 1:40.94 after winning his first individual European title earlier in the meet.

Bronze was shared between Poland’s Kamil Sieradzki and Ireland’s Evan Bailey, both finishing in 1:41.48.

“It’s pretty cool coming 1-2 with my training partner,” Scott said. “He won the 400 and it’s good to be there together on the podium, which is pretty special.”

McMillan said, “We have been training together day in, day out for three years. It’s a great set-up in Sterling and it’s good to come out 1 and 2. That was a big pb for me – winning the 400 at the start of the meeting gave me confidence going into this event. So I’m super happy.”

Mixed 4x50m Freestyle Relay Final | Italy Saves the Best for Last with World Record Performance

Italy closed the night with fireworks, delivering a world-record performance of 1:27.26 in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay and eclipsing France’s 2022 mark of 1:27.33.

The Italians opened with Leonardo Deplano (20.97) and Lorenzo Zazzeri (20.51), followed by Silvia Di Pietro (23.07), before Sarah Curtis anchored in 22.71 to secure the historic win.

Hungary finished second in 1:28.04, with the Netherlands (1:28.42) holding off a fast-charging Polish squad for bronze.

Semifinals and Heats Highlights

Ireland’s Elle McCartney led qualifiers for the women’s 200m breaststroke final in 2:18.81. Great Britain’s Angharad Evans (2:18.84) and Germany’s Anna Elendt (2:19.50) followed.

Spain’s Carles Coll Marti topped men’s 200m breaststroke qualifying in 2:01.91, just ahead of world record holder Caspar Corbeau (2:01.93).

Sweden’s Louise Hansson led women’s 100m butterfly semifinal qualifiers in 55.39, while Ponti was fastest into the men’s final in 48.82.

Great Britain’s Laura Cox topped the women’s 100m backstroke semifinals in 56.52. The men’s fastest qualifier was Britain’s Oliver Morgan in 49.62.

Earlier in the day, 18-year-old Filip Nowacki of Great Britain set a European junior record in the men’s 200m breaststroke heats at 2:03.75.

Germany’s Isabel Gose, the women’s 400m freestyle champion and record-setter on Day 1, led qualifiers for the 800m freestyle final in 8:13.70. Italy’s Simona Quadarella followed in 8:14.99.

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