U.S.-based Spanish swimmer and 200 breast Short Course World Champion Carles Coll Marti will not compete at championship meets this summer due to visa issues.
In an announcement in conjunction with the Royal Federation of Spanish Swimming (RFEN) on Instagram, Coll Marti said the complications have sidelined him from the country’s national championships as well as the 2026 European Championships.
I want to communicate alongside the RFEN that for reasons related to my visa, I will not compete in the Spanish Championships qualifying for the European (Championships)
As a consequence, I will also not participate in the European Championships in Paris this summer as I will not be able to compete the selection criteria that the RFEN established.
During these months I will focus my preparation on (Short Course) Worlds in China as well as my journey to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
I wish the Spanish delegation in Paris all the luck in the world.
The 24-year-old Catalonia native, who trains under fellow Spaniard Sergio Lopez at Virginia Tech, did not go into details about his visa issues. In many instances, athletes on visas in the U.S. must remain in the U.S. when they have a pending extension or visa change application.
Coll Marti’s announcement comes against the backdrop of the FIFA World Cup, an event that could put severe strain on the athlete visa processing system in the country. The World Cup has also produced several high-profile visa-related stories of its own. This includes a Somali referee being denied entry to the country and the Iranian camp being barred from spending the night in the U.S.
Coll Marti reigns as the defending World Champion and European Champion in the short course 200 breaststroke. In the big pool, he possesses a personal best (and national record) of 2:08.49, which he produced at the semifinals of the 2025 World Championships. He would go on to place 7th in the final and 3rd among Europeans in the field. This year, he has been as swift as 2:11.21, which earned him the top podium spot at the Pro Swim Series in Sacramento. Coll Marti also swims other breaststroke events and IM, and he has played a hand in national-record-setting Spanish relays.
That’s pretty hokie of the Euros.
Update plz if you ever discover the issue he is having.
That’s some BS this guys been creeping up on the National scene and about to have a great summer come on!
Still no article on Russia’s roster for European Championships? Two of last year’s World Championships mixed medley relay champions, Lifintsev and Trofimova will not swim there. It will change the dynamic of the relay by a lot.
(Sorry for posting it here, but I’ve waited for a few days and there is still nowhere we can discuss about it.)
they are not sure they exist by then
Carmen Weiler Sastre will also be absent due to injury. They are two of our most important swimmers, European champions in short course last December. Their absence is a significant loss for this European Championship.