2025 European Junior Championships
- Tuesday, July 1 – Sunday, July
- X-bionic® sphere Pool, Šamorín, Slovakia
- LCM (50m)
- Start Times – Local: Prelims – 9:30 am / Finals – 6:00 pm
- Start Times – EST: Prelims – 3:30 am / Finals – 12:00 pm
- SwimSwam Preview
- Meet Central
- Entries (by event)
- Entries (by country)
- Live European Aquatics Results
- Livestream (Pay-To-Watch)
- Recaps:
We’ve got an action-packed series of finals and semi-finals ahead of us on day two of the 2025 European Junior Championships taking place in Slovakia.
Junior swimmers from throughout Europe will do their best to take home hardware, with Italy sitting atop the medal table early on in this competition.
We’ll see multiple chances for potential repeat winners this evening, including in the girls’ 1500m free, featuring British national champion Amelie Blocksidge and the boys’ 50m breaststroke, including 2024 champion Nusrat Allahverdi of Turkey.
Refresh this post often as we see the feats unfold one event at a time.
GIRLS 200 FREESTYLE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 1:53.65, Summer McIntosh (2023)
- European Junior Record: 1:56.17, Nikolett Padar (HUN), 2023
- European Record: 1:52.98, Federica Pellegrini (2009)
- Championship Record: 1:57.51, Isabel Gose (2019)
- 2024 European Junior Champion: Minna Abraham (HUN), 1:57.52
GOLD – Bianca Nannucci (ITA), 1:58.41
SILVER – Maria Daza Garcia (ESP), 1:58.97
BRONZE – Sofia Diakova (AIN), 1:59.09
Italy got on the board with the victory in the first event of the evening, courtesy of Bianca Nannucci‘s gold in the girls’ 200m freestyle.
17-year-old Nannucci was 8th after the first hundred meters, spitting 58.63 on the front half before busting out final splits of 30.23/29.55 to soar to the wall first.
That left Spain’s Maria Daza Garcia to pick up the silver in 1:58.97 while Sofia Diakova of Russia, competing as a neutral athlete here, rounded out the podium in 1:59.09.
Nannucci’s time here was just .07 outside her personal best of 1:58.35 she posted en route to earning bronze in this event at last month’s Sette Colli Trophy.
Garcia was also right within range of her PB, a time of 1:58.81. She was a member of last night’s Spanish girls’ gold medal-winning 4x100m free relay squad, which denied Italy its fourth consecutive championship title.
BOYS 200 FREESTYLE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 1:42.97, David Popovici (2022)
- European Junior Record: 1:42.97, David Popovici (2022)
- European Record: 1:42.00, Paul Biedermann (2009)
- Championship Record: 1:45.26, David Popovici (2021)
- 2024 European Junior Champion: 1:47.74, Kristupas Trepocka (LTU)
GOLD – Christian Giefing (AUT), 1:46.88
SILVER – Tajus Juska (LTU), 1:47.03
BRONZE – Sander Sorensen (NOR), 1:47.47
Despite 16-year-old Tajus Juska of Lithuania carrying the top-seeded effort of 1:47.35 into tonight’s final, it was Austrian swimmer Christian Giefing who got the job done when all was said and done in the boys’ 200m free.
17-year-old Giefing ripped a winning result of 1:46.88, a monster personal best by nearly a second as he denied Juska the gold (1:47.03). Newly minted Norwegian national record holder Sander Sorensen bagged the bronze less than half a second behind in 1:47.47.
Giefing’s career-swiftest performance entering this competition rested at the 1:48.10 from last December, a time he dropped down already to 1:47.58 in the semi. Tonight he split 24.82/26.77 (51.59)/27.18/28.11 to become Austria’s #2 performer of all time. Only retired Olympian Felix Auboeck has been quicker, owning the national record at 1:45.11 from 2022.
Juska was 1:47.35 last night to register his first-ever foray under the 1:48 barrier and shaved off more time to hit 1:47.03, a new Lithuanian National Age Record. Prior to these championships, Juska’s previous NAG stood at the 1:48.16 posted in April of this year.
As for Sorensen, the 18-year-old has been on fire as of late, establishing a new Norwegian national record of 1:46.48 in this event, a time he registered at April’s Bergen Swim Festival.
GIRLS 50 BACKSTROKE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 27.49, Minna Atherton (2016)
- European Junior Record: 27.51, Daria Vaskina (2019)
- European Record: 27.10, Kira Toussaint (2021)
- Championship Record: 27.74, Mary-Ambre Moluh (2022)
- 2024 European Junior Champion: 27.94 Sara Curtis (ITA)
GOLD – Blythe Kinsman (GBR), 27.79
SILVER – Martine Damborg (DEN), 28.18
BRONZE – Daria-Mariuca Silinsteanu (ROU), 28.26
The girls’ 50m backstroke championship record sits at 27.74 and tonight winner Blythe Kinsman of Great Britain fell just .05 shy of that standard en route to topping the podium.
18-year-old Kinsman stopped the clock at a super swift 27.79 as the sole competitor of the field under the 28-second barrier. Her result erased her former PB of 27.93 from this year’s World Championship Trials, now bumping up her up the all-time British rankings to hold slot #7.
Versatile Danish athlete Martine Damborg repeated as silver medalist, tonight clocking 28.18 as the runner-up. Last year in Lithuania she hit 28.27 so she was a hair faster this time around.
That held off Romania’s Daria-Mariuca Silinsteanu who picked up her nation’s first medal here in 28.26, good enough for bronze and a new national record.
BOYS 50 BACKSTROKE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 24.00, Kliment Kolesnikov (2018)
- European Junior Record: 24.00, Kliment Kolesnikov (2018)
- European Record: 23.80, Kliment Kolesnikov (2021)
- Championship Record: 24.52, Kliment Kolesnikov (2018)
- 2024 European Junior Champion: 24.68, Mantas Kauspedas (LTU)
GOLD – Georgii Iakovlev (AIN), 25.04
SILVER – Daniele del Signore (ITA), 25.25
BRONZE – Mikhail Shcherbakov (AIN), 25.30
Two neutral athletes landed on the podium in the boys’ 50m backstroke, led by 17-year-old Russian Georgii Iakovlev‘s winning result of 25.04.
That was enough to hold the field at bay, although he scored a top-seeded time last night of 24.98 as a faster offering.
Bronze went to fellow neutral Mikhail Shcherbakov in 25.30 with Italy’s Daniele del Signore separating the pair in a silver medal-worthy 25.25. Del Signore earned silver last year in this same event in a time of 25.34.
It took a time of 24.68 to win gold in this men’s 50m backstroke last year, although the gold medalist from Lithuania, Mantas Kauspedas fell short, nabbing the 7th place position tonight in 25.63.
Iakovlev has already proven his mettle this season, bringing a lifetime best of 24.55 into this competition from April’s Russian National Championships to rank 10th in the world at the moment.
GIRLS 100 BUTTERFLY – SEMIFINAL
- World Junior Record: 56.43, Claire Curzan (2021)
- European Junior Record: 56.46
- European Record: 55.48, Sarah Sjostrom (2016)
- Championship Record: 56.95, Lana Pudar (BIH), 2023
- 2024 European Junior Champion: Martine Damborg (DEN), 58.75
Top 8:
- Flawia Kamzol (POL), 59.21
- Martine Damborg (DEN), 59.25
- Caterina Santambrogio (ITA), 59.28 & Aliisa Soini (FIN), 59.28
- –
- Serafima Fokina (AIN), 59.42 & Linda Roth (GER), 59.42
- –
- Sara Dumont (BEL), 59.62
- Yara Fay Riefstahl (GER), 59.93
The top 8 finishers in the girls’ 100m fly semi-finals were all under the 1:00 barrier, as opposed to this morning’s heats where only top-seeded Flawia Kamzol of Poland (58.90) and Finland’s Aliisa Soini (59.74) made that cut.
Tonight, 18-year-old Kamzol stayed on top of the field, holding fast as the #1 swimmer in 59.21. That holds a slight edge over Martine Damborg of Denmark, the swimmer who already scored silver in the 50m backstroke just a few events ago.
We saw two ties among the rest of the top 8, including Caterina Santambrogio of Italy and Soini both hitting 59.28 to share 3rd while neutral athlete Serafima Fokina and Germany’s Linda Roth both punched 59.42 to share the 5th slot.
Damborg is the defending European Junior Championships gold medalist in this event with a mark of 58.75 from last year in Lithuania.
BOYS 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – SEMIFINAL
- World Junior Record: 1:56.99, Hubert Kos (2021)
- European Junior Record: 1:56.99, Hubert Kos (2021)
- European Record: 1:55.18, Laszlo Cseh (2009)
- Championship Record: 1:59.17, Tom Dean (2018)
- 2024 European Junior Champion: Robert-Andrei Badea (ROU), 2:00.05
Top 8:
- Mikhail Shcherbakov (AIN), 2:00.34
- Iason Routoulas (GRE) – 2:01.29
- Francesco Pernice (ITA), 2:01.37
- Robert-Andrei Badea (ROU), 2:01.43
- Toby Godsell (GBR), 2:02.08
- Matei-Cristian State (ROU), 2:02.24
- Matteo Venini (ITA), 2:02.26
- Daniel Ransom (GBR), 2:02.79
The boys’ 200m IM field held their cards relatively closely to their chests during tonight’s semi-finals, with no athlete breaking through the 2:00 barrier.
Neutral athlete Mikhail Shcherbakov already earned 50m back bronze earlier and doubled up with a top-seeded performance of 2:00.34 to hold a near-second advantage over the pack for tomorrow night’s medal-contesting event.
The 17-year-old has been sub-2:00 on one occasion, owning a lifetime best of 1:59.46 from April of last year. That caliber of performance may indeed prove enough to grab the gold this time around, as last year’s winner, Robert-Andrei Badea (ROU) topped the podium in 2:00.05.
Badea landed in the 4th position this evening in 2:01.43 while Greek athlete Iason Routoulas moved up to the 2nd slot and Italian Francesco Pernice was 3rd-fastest in respective times of 2:01.29 and 2:01.37.
GIRLS 50 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 29.30, Benedetta Pilato (2021)
- European Junior Record: 29.30, Benedetta Pilato (2021)
- European Record: 29.16, Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 2023
- Championship Record: 29.75, Benedetta Pilato (2021)
- 2024 European Junior Champion: 31.27, Smilte Plytnykaite (LTU)
GOLD – Smilte Plytnykaite (LTU), 31.16
SILVER – Egle Salu (EST), 31.19
BRONZE – Nayara Pineda Lopez (ESP), 31.26
Lithuania’s Smilte Plytnykaite, a University of Virginia commit, clocked a swift time of 31.16 to lane atop the girls’ 50m breaststroke for the 2nd consecutive year.
Her outing tonight shaved .09 off the 31.27 which brought her gold last time around, although her prelims time of 30.92 from yesterday morning remains her best-ever and first time under the 31-second threshold. She maintains her ranking as Lithuania’s #3 performer in history.
Egle Salu of Estonia carried her 2nd-seeded position into tonight’s final to capture silver behind Plytnykaite, registering 31.19 and Spain’s Nayara Pineda Lopez was a hair behind in 31.26 for bronze. 17-year-old Lopez repeated her same result from last year as well where she was 31.46.
BOYS 50 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 26.97, Nicolo Martinenghi (2017)
- European Junior Record: 26.97, Nicolo Martinenghi (2017)
- European Record: 25.95, Adam Peaty (2017)
- Championship Record: 27.23, Nicolo Martinenghi (2017)
- 2024 European Junior Champion: 27.60, Nusrat Allahverdi (TUR)
GOLD – Nusrat Allahverdi (TUR), 27.24
SILVER – Filip Nowacki (GBR), 27.61
BRONZE – Jan Malte Grafe (GER), 27.65
Turkey’s Nusrat Allahverdi continued his domination of this boys’ 50m breaststroke event, carrying momentum from yesterday morning’s heats and semi-finals to ultimately capture gold in a head-turning time of 27.24. That was only .02 away from Italian Olympic champion Nicolo Martinenghi‘s longstanding meet record from 2017.
Giving Turkey its first medal of this competition, 17-year-old Allahverrdi nailed a near-lifetime best, falling just .04 shy of the 27.20 performed at the Acropolis Open in Greece earlier this year, with that prior time only four-tenths shy of Emre Sakci‘s Turkish Record in the event.
Allavehrdi is the defending European Junior champion, putting up a time of 27.60 last year in Lithuania.
Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki announced his presence, picking up silver in a new PB of 27.61. That shaved .02 off the 27.63 the 17-year-old notched last night to establish a new National Age Group for 17-year-olds.
Germany’s Jan Malte Grafe rounded out the podium in 27.65 while his countryman, last year’s silver medalist Subajr Biltaev settled for 5th in 27.80.
GIRLS 50 FREESTYLE – SEMIFINAL
- World Junior Record: 24.17, Claire Curzan (2021)
- European Junior Record: 24.56, Sara Curtis (ITA), 2024
- European Record: 23.67, Sarah Sjostrom (2017)
- Championship Record: 24.67, Sara Curtis (ITA), 2024
- 2024 European Junior Champion: Sara Curtis (ITA), 24.68
Top 8:
- Jana Pavalic (CRO), 24.93
- Martine Damborg (DEN), 25.26
- Kira Manokhina (AIN), 25.31
- Albane Cachot (FRA), 25.32
- Theodora Taylor (GBR), 25.39
- Shane Golland (ISR), 25.43
- Skye Carter (GBR), 25.47
- Vasilisa Malaeva (AIN), 25.61
Croatia’s national record holder Jana Pavalic, a University of Virginia commit, put her speed on display in this girls’ 50m freestyle semi-final, hitting 24.93 as the sole sub-25-second performer.
The 18-year-old ace owns a lifetime best of 24.67 from last year’s edition of these championships, where she ultimately settled for silver in the final race in 24.92.
Denmark’s Martine Damborg remarkably raced in her 3rd event of the evening and fared well, posting 25.26 to take the 2nd seed, already within .24 of her PB of 24.02 from March of this year.
Additional contenders for tomorrow night’s main event include a pair of British teens in Theodora Taylor and Skye Carter.
The former was actually the 100m breaststroke silver medalist and 200m breaststroke bronze medalist last year in Lithuania while Carter captured 50m free bronze in 25.24.
BOYS 200 BUTTERFLY – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 1:53.79, Kristof Milak (2017)
- European Junior Record: 1:52.71, Kristof Milak (2018)
- European Record: 1:50.34, Kristof Milak (2022)
- Championship Record: 1:53.79, Kristof Milak (2017)
- 2024 European Junior Champion: 1:57.42, Vlad-Stefan Mihalache (ROU)
GOLD – David Antal (HUN), 1:57.42
SILVER – Isak Fernandez Rodrigo (ESP), 1:58.39
BRONZE – Tuncer Erturk (TUR), 1:58.40
Sitting 5th at the halfway point, 16-year-old David Antal of Hungary crushed the back half of his life to rush past his competitors and grab the gold in this boys’ 200m fly final.
Splitting 26.58/30.00 (56.58)/30.74/30.10, Antal got the wall nearly a second ahead of the field and registered a new lifetime best of 1:57.42.
Spain’s Isak Fernandez Rodrigo gave his nation its second medal of the evening, turning in a time of 1:58.39 while Turkey’s emerging star Tuncer Erturk settled for bronze a fingernail behind in 1:58.40.
Antal’s outing matched last year’s winning time exactly, with the Hungarian earning bronze in 2024 in a time then of 1:57.67.
GIRLS 1500 FREESTYLE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 15:28.36, Katie Ledecky (2014)
- European Junior Record: 15:55.23, Merve Tuncel (2021)
- European Record: 15:38.88, Lotte Friis (2013)
- Championship Record: 15:55.23, Merve Tuncel (2021)
- 2024 European Junior Champion: Amelie Blocksidge (GBR), 16:10.23
GOLD – Amelie Blocksidge (GBR), 16:10.23
SILVER – Emma Vittoria Giannelli (ITA), 16:13.11
BRONZE – Vivien Jackl (HUN), 16:17.42
16-year-old Amelie Blocksidge did it again, successfully defending her European Championships title from last year with another eye-popping swim. Remarkably, her winning effort of 16:10.23 from a year ago is exactly the same time she produced tonight.
Taking over the lead at the 300m mark, Blocksidge held off Italy’s Emma Vittoria Giannelli and Hungary’s Vivien Jackl who picked up the minor medals.
Giannelli snagged silver in 16:13.11, a new personal best by over 4 seconds, while the Shane Tusup-trained Jackl bagged bronze in 16:17.42, the 3rd-quickest of her young career.
Teen Blocksidge’s performance came just .19 off her lifetime best of 16:10.04 logged last year to become Great Britain’s #3 performer in history. At this year’s Aquatics GB Championships, she earned gold in a time of 16:23.54 so she was far and away on a different level tonight to establish a new British Age Record for 16-year-olds.
MIXED 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 3:25.92, United States (2019)
- European Junior Record: 3:27.35, Russia (2020)
- European Record: 3:21.81, Netherlands (2017)
Championship Record: 3:28.34, Italy (2024)- 2024 European Junior Champion: Italy, 3:28.34
GOLD – Spain, 3:27.69
SILVER – Great Britain, 3:29.06
BRONZE – Italy, 3:29.37
In another amazing feat for the nation of Spain, it followed up its gold medal upset last night in the girls’ 4x100m free relay with another impressive show in the mixed 4x100m free relay.
The combination of Luca Hoek le Guenedal, Dario Berdiel Latorre, Irene Ciercoles Galve and Maria Daza Garcia collectively stopped the clock at a time of 3:27.69. That erased the former Championship Record last year’s winner Italy logged at 3:28.34.
Spain was fueled by a monster lead-off by 17-year-old le Guenedal as the teen unleashed 48.14 to break the 100m freestyle national record.
He split 22.74/25.40 to put Spain out in front, with his leg outperforming the previous Spanish standard of 48.34 Sergio de Celis put on the books last year.
Latorre was next in the water for Spain, turning in a 2nd leg of 49.98 before turning it over to Galve who notched 55.40. Garcia logged another impressive split, anchoring in 54.17 to seal the deal.
Great Britain got on the board in 3:29.06 for silver and Italy nabbed 3:29.37 for bronze.
How about Sauveur Cristofini at fifth place in the 200 free in 1.48.75 while being 15 (will turn 16 in late November) !!
Watch out for this kid, en route to LA 🙂
Bianca Nannucci had a Federica-like comeback. Does anybody know how come she speaks English so fluently?
Because she lived in North Carolina for a while, in Greensboro.
I hear she is going back to the US, for college.
committed to Virginia Tech class 2026
We in Spain have two surnames, cause we have a father and a mother, know them and respect and love both families. Sometimes you use only one, the first one. That’s not a middle name. You say Luca Hoek, Darío Berdiel, Irene Ciércoles, María Daza, Nayara Pineda. It’s not difficult. Could you try it, next time? Fortunately, it’s seem you’re about to write those strange spanish names many times these days
Instead of finding something to complain about (many other nations also have differences with names etc), celebrate and give us all some insight into why this the Spanish Junior team this last 2 EJC have been so good??
Luca Hoek 48.14 leading off the mixed free relay. Wow.
Stunning swim!
Stroke is beautiful to watch
Wow, UVA women are adding swimmers from Italy, Lithuania, Bosnia, and Croatia!
SwimSwam photo curse still working today.
Still a PB for Juska though. Looking forward to his 100 free.
😉I hope SwimSwam won’t put Tuncelli on the headline photo tomorrow. I’d love to see a decent time from him.
Haha!
Juska 23.9 on the first 50 of his 200, these kids coming through are crazy
Quote from Tuncelli:
“That was a great start and it’s beautiful place to race,” Tuncelli told European Aquatics. “I took it relatively cool, as it is more challenging in the sun but it’s okay and I hope it can go quicker tomorrow afternoon.
“My taper is for Singapore World Championships, but I hope it’s going to be great for this Championships too. I do have a little injury in my foot, but I’m going to try my best.
“When I was in training in my county, I did a turn and my feet were wrong, too close to the wall, and I got a little bit of an injury, but it’s not broken and it’s going to be okay.”
Tumble turns suck