The 38^th edition of the European Aquatics Championships saw a host of the biggest names in the sport, such as Olympic champions Leon Marchand (FRA), Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA), David Popovici (ROU) make gold medal-winning comebacks.

The seven-day event also saw 34 international records broken, with two 19-year-olds; Sara Curtis (ITA) and Johannes Liebmann (GER), topping the of list of ‘super’ swims.

Sprint star Curtis enjoyed a dazzling junior career and since switching her training base to Virginia in the USA late last year she continued to make impressive progress as a senior.

Paris 2026 marked not only her first major individual title, but record-breaking swim; lowering the landmark time twice in the 50m Backstroke, eventually setting it at 26.56 secs in her title-claiming finale.

“I guess you could call me a superwoman,” she said with a giggle after the race, having begun by praising the strength of her rivals and “idols” in the sport. 

The versatile Italian, who would also claim 50m and 100m Freestyle bronze medals, as well as three relay honours continued; “I knew I could go quick, but perhaps not this quick so soon and it makes me very excited about my future.”

Liebmann Leads The Way For World-Leading Germans

Liebmann ended his junior career with a world record breaking 800m swim at the 2025 European Short Course Championships in December and while he was marked a strong ‘one-to-watch’ in 2026, few would have expected he would have made such an immediate impact.

He ‘warmed up’ for the 1500m by impressively beating World silver medallist Sven Schwarz (GER) and European Short Course champion Zalan Sarkany (HUN) to gold in the 800m, in a new championship as well as European record time (7:37.59).

The German maintained a similar speed in the early stages of the longer distance even and was expected to drop off the pace in the latter half of the race. 

Instead, he maintained it; recording a barely believable world record of 14:26.79 which was 3.88 secs quicker than the previous mark set by Bobby Finke (USA) in the Paris 2024 Olympic final and significantly quicker than the personal best (14:34.89) of German icon Florian Wellbrock (GER).

“The time is insane but I knew I could go fast and that was the plan, go fast in the beginning and keep that pace, get clear of the others, but then I it hurt quite a lot,” Liebmann said.

“To hear the crowd standing in the last 200m was a great, great feeling.”

Two world junior records fell, with Mikhail Shcherbakov setting a new mark of 1:56.16 en route to winning bronze in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley, while Nathan Muratory (FRA) delighted the home fans by recording 1:54.87 in the 200m Backstroke heats.

He was far from the host’s only star, with Mary-Ambre Moluh (FRA) setting European records in the 100m Backstroke (57.99 and then 57.94 secs) en-route to winning gold.

She was also part of France’s Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay gold medal-winning line-up, while Leon Marchand (FRA)landed his first senior European honour as part of the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay silver medal-winning team on the opening night.

His lead-off time of 1:43.76 was quicker than the time recorded by 200m Freestyle gold medallist David Popovici (ROU), who completed the 100m / 200m Freestyle double for the third European championships in a row; the first time that has been achieved in history.

Marchand, the star of his home Games with an astounding haul of four individual gold medals, as well as a relay bronze, was unsurprisingly the major draw for host-nation fans.

Although a pre-event abductor injury resulted in his withdrawal from the 200m Breaststroke as well as the 200m and 400m Individual Medley disciplines, he would still claim commanding victories in both the 200m Butterfly and 400m Freestyle events.

“I just try to enjoy myself as much as possible,” he told Olympics.com after the race. 

“In training, I swim a bit of everything, so when I’m able to do things like this in competition, it’s really cool. The 400m, I’ve been working on it for two years now, so it didn’t just come out of nowhere, but 3:43 is starting to be a really, really strong time on the world stage. 

Marchand continued; “Why not the 200m freestyle, why not the 400m freestyle [for LA28]? There are still a lot of things I can improve, though.”

Mum’s Make Their Mark

Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) surprised even herself with gold medal-winning performances in both the 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle events at Paris 2024 and admits she “wasn’t 100% sure” she would continue in the sport after those landmark achievements.

Prospects of a return might have looked slimmer after the Swedish star announced she was expecting her first child in February last year, but having continued training during her pregnancy Sjostrom admits she found herself to be “stronger than expected” after returning to the water post child birth.

Back in the French capital, for her first major event since becoming a mother, she claimed stunning gold and silver medals in the respective 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle finals.

“Of course it wasn’t easy, but I didn’t get back in the water quickly because I wanted to race quickly soon after becoming a mother, I did it because it felt natural,” she told European Aquatics. “It has surprised me how my body has responded.”

Another swimmer making a strong return to the pool after welcoming a child in to the world was Ingeborg Loyning (NOR), who although entered under her maiden name, raced with a swim cap which displayed ‘Chalmers’, a nod to her husband.

The legendary Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers (AUS) was in the stands with daughter Astrid, supporting his wife, just as she did for him earlier in the month while he competed at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

“Becoming a mother has been just the most empowering journey and I’ve loved every challenge that’s come with it, but mentally getting back in to sport has been really important to me,” she told European Aquatics. 

“It’s important to have that identity outside of being a mother and I’d definitely encourage more women to come back to swimming after becoming a mum.”

Who Else Shone at Paris 2026?

Three-time World champion Marrit Steenbergen (NED) broke Sarah Sjostrom’s 100m Freestyle world record, which has stood for nine years, back in June and while she was not able to lower the mark of 51.68 secs further, she claimed gold in the final and later recorded the fastest-ever women’s 100m Freestyle relay split, with 50.74 secs. 

While three-time Olympic champion Adam Ramsay-Peaty (GBR) struggled to find his form of old, ending the championships without a medal, his nation was not short of breaststroke successes.

Angharad Evans (GBR) backed up her two Commonwealth titles secured earlier in the month with maiden individual European long course medals. The 23-year-old claiming 100m gold and 200m silver, also setting three championship records across each of the rounds in the former.

World junior champion Filip Nowacki (GBR) also gave further evidence of his undoubted talent, with the 18-year-old following his defeat of Olympic gold medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) at the Commonwealth Games, by beating three-time world medallist Caspar Corbeau (NED) in the 200m Breaststroke final.

Another breaststroker delivering brilliance back in the city he says has a “special place” in his heart, was Paris 2024 gold medallist Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA) who delivered the 50m / 100m golden double on his return to the French capital.

Other standout performances included those delivered by triple distance Freestyle gold medal-winning Simona Quadarella (ITA), who won the 800m and 1500m crowns for the fourth Europeans in a row, while also reclaiming the 400m she last won in 2021.

Olympic champion Hubert Kos (HUN) began and ended his packed campaign with victories in the 200m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley respectively, while Egor Kornev claimed six medals, including individual gold in the 50m Butterfly.

Kos’ countryman Kristof Milak (HUN) returned from his swimming odyssey with a 100m Butterfly victory in a new European record time of 49.48 seconds, which was just 0.03 secs short of the world record. 

It was something of a shock given a self-confessed lack of training ahead of the event, but perhaps of even greater surprise was the Olympic champion’s decision to end his media boycott and grant interviews for the first time in over three years.

“I didn’t have any expectations and I’m not frustrated by getting so close to the world record because it’s great given the amount of swimming I have done,” Milak said.

“It (victory in the 100m Butterfly, as well as the 4x100m Freestyle Relay on the same night), makes the fight worth it and looking forward I’m (looking after) my mental health and be a bit wiser and more intelligent about my swimming as well as my private life.”

What Is Next For Superstar Swimmers?

The World Aquatics Swimming World Cup ‘Silk Road tour’ will be the next major target for a host of Europe’s best, with the three legs taking place across Azerbaijan (Baku 1-3 Oct), Uzbekistan (Tashkent, 8-10 Oct) and Kazakhstan (Astana 15-17 Oct).

They will then reunite with global stars at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Beijing, China, from 1-6 December.