2026 European Championships Previews: It’s Kornev’s Race To Lose In The Men’s 50 Free

European Swimming Championships

• August 10-16, 2026
• Paris, France — Olympic Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50 Meters)
• Meet Information
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index

BY THE NUMBERS – MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE

• World Record: 20.88  – Cam McEvoy, Australia (2026)
• European Record: 20.94 – Fred Bousquet, France (2009)
• Championship Record: 21.11 – Ben Proud, Great Britain (2018)
• 2025 World Champion: Cam McEvoy (AUS), 21.14
• 2024 European Champion: Kristian Gkolomeev (GRE), 21.72

The men’s 50 free this year has a clear favorite in Egor Kornev, but the field behind him could hardly be tighter. Kornev has cemented himself as one of the very best sprinters in the world this season, and anyone other than him on top of the podium would be a surprise, but the other medals could go to almost anyone.

Andrej Barna broke through in the 50 free last season and is one of only two other swimmers to have been under 21.50. Sean Niewold, Nikita Sheremet, and Jere Hribar all come off strong NCAA seasons, while Meiron Cheruti and Leonardo Deplano are underrated veterans.

A total of 18 European men have broken 22 seconds so far this season, and the semi-finals look like being an absolute bloodbath. All eight of the swimmers who emerge from them will fancy their chances of standing on the podium.

The Favorites?

We’ll start with the absolute favorite. Kornev placed 5th in the 50 free at the 2025 world championships, his first major international meet, clocking a near-best of 21.53. That was the slowest of a trio of incredibly consistent swims, having swum 21.52 in the heats and 21.51 in the semi-finals, but he has been on another level this year.

He posted some phenomenal short course times over the winter, lowering his best first to 20.51 then to 20.39, but exploded in long course at the Russian championships at the start of April. He broke the Russian record with a 21.11 in the semi-finals there, before lowering it yet further to 21.06 in the final – while breathing four times.

That is a mark that only two people have beaten in textile – Cam McEvoy and Caeleb Dressel, and is the second-fastest time in the world this year. With Cam McEvoy at #1, he is the fastest European and ahead of the #2 European Sean Niewold by a full half second. Kornev was right on his PBs at worlds last summer, and he has a big margin of error in this event. He is the heavy, heavy favorite.

Behind him are a pair of swimmers who have broken out at the top level a little later in their careers. Sean Niewold has been a consistent presence in Dutch sprinting over the past few seasons but was never really in a position to challenge for international finals. His PB in this event prior to this season was just 21.99, a solid time but not one that would make him a medal contender.

Even last winter, he missed the semi -inals at the European Short Course championships, placing 19th in 21.37, but then posted times of 21.92 and 21.76 at the Pro Swim Series in May. He sliced off another two tenths at the start of July, swimming 21.56 and 21.60 at Dutch Trials and breaking Thom de Boer’s national record in the process. If there’s anyone in the field coming in bang in form, it’s Niewold.

Sean NIEWOLD (Photo by Patrick B. Kraemer / MAGICPBK)

The second of the pair is Serbia’s Andrej Barna, who like Niewold has a spell in the NCAA behind him. Whereas Niewold spent just a single season at Alabama in the year just gone, Barna was at Louisville from 2018-2023, qualifying for multiple NCAA championships but never did more than make the occasional semi-final internationally.

That all changed in 2024, when he qualified for the final at the Doha world championships, won European bronze in the 100 free, and anchored Serbia to European 4×100 free gold in a wickedly-fast 46.86. Since then, somewhat surprisingly, he has shifted focus away from the 100 free and onto the 50, but that move has more than paid off.

He sliced nearly half a second off his best last season, going from 21.93 to 21.44, and placed 6th at the World Championships in 21.60, although he was 21.44 and 21.45 in the earlier rounds. He has been in similar form so far this season, and is the third-fastest European man so far this season with a 21.57.

Barna will come into this meet as something of a medal favorite, a tag that he has not had to deal with much in his career internationally. Arguably he had an outside shot at a medal last summer, but this time he is the man in control of his destiny. If he swims at his best, he makes the top three. If he falters slightly in the final, the field behind is close enough that he could quickly fall down the ranks.

Maxime Grousset (photo: Jack Spitser)

Maxime Grousset is somewhat of a wildcard, having injured his foot in mid-June and missing the French Elite Championships. His recovery timetable did give him time to get back to training before Europeans, but he will be on a compressed schedule. At his best he is a medal contender, and was just 0.05 seconds off his PB earlier this season with a 21.62 that ranks him 4th coming into this meet. However, how quickly he will round back into form is not yet apparent, and his focus will undoubtedly be the sprint fly events in which he is the reigning world champion.

NCAA Talents From Across The Pond

Jere Hribar and Nikita Sheremet both had impressive summers last year. Hribar set a Croatian record of 47.93 in the 100 free and lowered his PB in the 50 to 21.79, rebounding after just missing the Olympic Games in 2024. Sheremet, still a junior last year, won the World Junior title in 21.75, matching Michael Andrew’s World junior record. Their paths crossed at the European Short Course Championships last December, when Hribar won the 50 free in another Croatian record of 20.70, a tenth ahead of Sheremet’ 20.81. Incidentally, that was another World junior record for the Ukrainian, and lowered Andrii Govorov’s national record.

Nikita Sheremet (photo: Jack Spitser)

Both have looked in good form this year, qualifying for NCAAs and making an ‘A’ final apiece (although Hribar would have made two if it weren’t for a DQ in the 50 free). Sheremet has dropped another 0.13 seconds off his long course 50 free, clocking 21.62 at the Westmont stop of the Pro Swim Series, while Hribar was just 0.13 seconds off his best in 21.92 in his only swim so far this season at the Tristan Vessel Invitational.

Sheremet looks to have the higher ceiling in the 50 free right now, and it would not be out of the question for him to drop a tenth or two in Paris. 21-mid puts you in the medal conversation this year, and while Hribar also has the talent to post that kind of time, he is maybe better suited to the long course 100 and has a little further to go in the 50.

Veteran Know-how

A pair of veterans who both finished in the top ten at last year’s world championships, Leonardo Deplano and Meiron Cheruti, have posted times this year to indicate that they will be in the mix again.

Deplano was top-finishing European at the 2025 world championships who is still in the sport, clocking 21.52 in the final for 4th, just 0.06 off bronze medalist Jack Alexy. He was just off his PB of 21.50, set in the semi-finals at the Paris Olympics, and has already been 21.64 so far this season. Deplano won silver at the European Championships in 2022 behind Ben Proud, in what is still his only European final. Count on him to change that fact in Paris.

Cheruti missed out on a spot in the 2025 world final after losing a swim off to Korea’s Ji Yu-Chan, but posted swims of 21.60 and 21.64 last season, the first of which stands as the Israeli record. He has never made a European final, finishing 11th in 2022 and 20th in 2021.

Cheruti hasn’t been quite as fast in-season this year, breaking 22 seconds on just the one occasion with a 21.91 at the Lausanne Swim Cup in November. However, with a spot at the meet already assured, he may be saving his taper this season.

Vladislav Bukhov undoubtedly has the talent to be near the top of this field, but he has been wildly inconsistent ever since winning the 50 free at the 2024 world championships. He posted a Ukrainian record of 21.38 in the semi-finals there, but placed 3rd at the 2024 championships a few months later in 21.85 then missed the final at the Olympics, placing 11th in a time of 21.91.

Last summer was more of the same, as he placed 13th at the world championships in 21.82, and added two tenths in the final of the European U23 Championships to take silver after swimming 21.52 in the heats. With the field having the depth it does, and Bukhov not having a recorded long course 50 free this season, bowing out in the semi-finals is a real possibility.

Noisy neighbours

Hungary has a pair of swimmers in the top eight European men so far this season, with Kristof Milak setting a new best of 21.76 at the Hungarian Championships, leading Nandor Nemeth (21.87) by just over a tenth of a second. Milak’s sprint events have looked the most promising on his return to the pool after skipping the World Championships last summer, but he has never swum this event at a major meet. It could be in line for him, but it’s tough to see him dropping too much more time if he swims it.

Nemeth has been a near-perennial finalist in the 100 free in recent years, but broke through in the 50 this season with his first sub-22 swim. He sliced a quarter of a second off with his 21.87, his previous best of 22.12 coming from October 2023, but like Milak is a little more suited to the 100 distance.

David Popovici is also not a 50 swimmer, more at home in the 100 free and 200 free, but shaved a hundredth off his best with a 21.82 at the Sette Colli last month. He likely doesn’t have the speed to be a finals contender, but will be one to keep an eye on if he does swim this event.

Junior To Senior Success?

Three swimmers who have each had success at the junior level in sprint freestyle are Diogo Ribeiro, Luka Hoek le Guenedal, and Jacob Mills. The former two both own their nation’s national records, le Guenedal clocking 21.93 at the Spanish Open Championships in March and Ribeiro owning a best of 21.67 from last year’s European U23 Championships.

credit: Mickaël Malaper
Malaper Photography

Mills has a way to go to match the British record of 21.11, but set a new best of 21.91 in April to shave 0.05 seconds off his time from 12 months ago. He won silver at the World Junior Championships in 22.02 last summer, and has proved himself a relatively consistent performer in the 15 months since his big breakout at the 2025 Aquatics GB Championships.

However, of the trio it is Ribeiro with the best shot at this final. He has struggled a little at world championships in freestyle, placing 26th in the 50 in 2025, 18th in 2024, and 13th in 2023, none of those swims being under 22 seconds. However, he has won three world medals in his career – silver in the 50 fly in 2023 and gold in the 50 fly and 100 fly in 2024 – so has the experience of major finals.

Le Guenedal seems more like a 100/200 freestyler than a drop-dead sprinter but after setting a new Spanish record in the 100 free, and swimming half a second faster in that than at the meet where he set his 50 free PB, he could sneak into the final.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark horse – Thomas Fannon

“But Fannon is the #3 European swimmer this season and just set an Irish record of 21.58! Why is he a dark horse?”. Because I wrote this before he set the record, and want to take credit for having highlighted him. Fannon is more of a dark horse for a medal than for the final, which he looks almost certain to make. 

He was almost a surprise finalist in Paris two years ago, clocking an Irish record of 21.74 to finish 10th and miss the final by a tenth of a second. Last season he was slightly slower, posting times of 21.77 and 21.81 as he placed 12th at the World Championships, and has broken 22 seconds thrice already this year. Another 21-mid will be right in the mix for the podium.