Greece Sets Three Records At European Swimming Championships

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Greece produced another strong performance on the fifth day of the European Swimming Championships in Paris, recording two fourth-place finishes, one seventh, one eighth, another qualification for a final and three national records.

The Greek team has now reached 12 finals at the championships. Despite its impressive overall performance, Greece has won only one medal so far — a silver — reflecting the exceptionally high level of this year’s competition.

Christou Misses Medal by One Hundredth

After winning the European 50m backstroke title at the previous two championships in Rome and Belgrade, Apostolos Christou surrendered his crown in dramatic fashion despite breaking the Greek national record.

Just four hundredths of a second separated the winner from fourth place in an extraordinary final. Christou finished fourth in 24.15, only one hundredth behind Czech swimmer Miroslav Knedla, who won gold in 24.11.

Two neutral athletes representing Russia completed the podium, with former double European champion and world-record holder Kliment Kolesnikov taking silver in 24.12 and Pavel Samusenko bronze in 24.14.

Christou’s previous Greek record stood at 24.36, the time that earned him his first European title in Rome on August 15, 2022. His new mark was 21 hundredths faster, yet it was still not enough to secure a medal.

Ntountounaki Fourth in 100m Butterfly

Anna Ntountounaki also finished fourth, clocking 57.10 in the women’s 100m butterfly final.

The Greek champion was slightly slower than her 56.99 from Wednesday’s semifinal, but her final time still improved on the previous Greek record of 57.25 and ranks as the second-fastest swim of her career.

Ntountounaki needed to improve considerably on her semifinal time to reach the podium. Neutral Russian swimmer Daria Klepikova took bronze in 56.76.

Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk successfully defended her European title in 56.08, while Germany’s Angelina Köhler took silver in 56.39.

Greek swimmer Georgia Damasioti finished eighth in 57.72.

Vasilaki Seventh After Record-Breaking Qualifier

After three outstanding swims — two in the 800m freestyle and one in the 1,500m freestyle heats — Artemis Vasilakiappeared to feel the effects of fatigue in the final.

The 20-year-old finished seventh in the 1,500m freestyle in 16:21.26, well outside the remarkable Greek record of 16:13.83 she set in Thursday’s heats.

Her final time was also slightly slower than the 16:20.95 she had posted before travelling to Paris, although she had dramatically improved that mark in qualifying.

Italy’s Simona Quadarella won her 10th European Championship gold medal and her fourth in the 1,500m, setting a championship record of 15:46.22.

Germany’s Isabel Gose and Maya Werner again finished second and third, as they had in the 800m, in 15:49.31 and 15:52.50 respectively.

Popovici Completes Third Straight Double

Romanian star David Popovici completed his third consecutive European Championship double, adding the 200m freestyle title to his 100m victory.

The 22-year-old won in 1:44.15, comfortably retaining his title despite a relatively modest performance by his standards.

Lithuanian Tomas Navikonis produced a spectacular final 50m to take silver in 1:44.55, while veteran British swimmer James Guy won bronze in 1:44.87.

Germany’s Lukas Märtens, theoretically the only swimmer capable of seriously challenging Popovici, finished seventh.

Tsikunova Claims First Major Individual Long-Course Title

World-record holder Evgenia Chikunova won the women’s 200m breaststroke in 2:19.32, claiming the first major individual title of her career in a 50m pool.

The neutral Russian swimmer also broke the championship record set by Denmark’s Rikke Møller Pedersen in 2014.

Britain’s Angharad Evans took silver in 2:21.21, while Ireland’s Mona McSharry won bronze in 2:22.43. The pair had also finished first and second in the 100m breaststroke.

Russian Neutral Team Wins Mixed Relay

A neutral team representing Russia won the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay in a championship-record time of 3:19.95.

The team of Korniyev, Girev, Klepikova and Manokhina narrowly defeated the Netherlands, which finished in 3:20.09.

Dutch swimmer Marrit Steenbergen produced an extraordinary unofficial split of 50.74.

Italy took bronze in 3:20.80, while France was disqualified.

Siskos Sets National Record and Reaches Final

Apostolos Siskos produced one of Greece’s highlights of the evening, breaking the national record in the 200m butterfly and qualifying for Saturday’s final.

The European silver medallist in the 200m backstroke finished second in the second semifinal in 1:55.55, qualifying sixth overall alongside Poland’s Krzysztof Chmielewski.

Siskos’s time broke the Greek men’s and under-23 records. He improved the previous mark of 1:56.13, which he had set on May 10 at the Acropolis swimming meeting at the Olympic Aquatic Centre in Athens.

French superstar Léon Marchand was the fastest semifinalist in 1:53.95 and enters the final as the clear favourite.

Pavlopoulou Sets Record but Misses Final

Nicole Pavlopoulou also set a Greek national record, but her performance was not enough to secure a place in the 200m individual medley final.

The Paleo Faliro swimmer finished 10th in the semifinals in 2:12.51, improving the previous national record of 2:13.14 that she set on June 28 at the Sette Colli meeting in Rome.

The final qualifying spot went to Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk in 2:12.07, while Britain’s Abbie Wood posted the fastest semifinal time at 2:09.99.

Sjöström Dominates 50m Freestyle Semifinals

Swedish veteran Sarah Sjöström, already the 50m butterfly champion in Paris, showed her quality again in the 50m freestyle semifinals.

The 33-year-old posted 23.83, comfortably the fastest time and the only swim under 24 seconds.

Cyprus’s Kalia Antoniou produced a strong performance to finish 12th in 24.82.

France’s Marie-Amélie Molle and Pauline Mahieu recorded the fastest semifinal times in the women’s 100m backstroke, with 58.21 and 58.93 respectively.

In the men’s 50m breaststroke semifinals, Italy’s Simone Cerasuolo and Nicolo Martinenghi led the field with 26.23 and 26.62.

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