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:
Amalie Smith, a 15-year-old out of Great Britain blasted a time of 4:37.02 in the girl’s 400 IM at the European Junior Championships to win the gold medal and become the fastest 15-year-old 400 IMer in British history, and the sixth fastest Brit of all time.
GIRLS 400 IM – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 4:24.38 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2023
- European Junior Record: 4:38.53 – Alba Vazquez Ruiz (ESP), 2019
- European Record: 4:26.36 – Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2016
Championship Record: 4:39.28 – Vivien Jackl (HUN), 2024- 2024 European Junior Champion: Viven Jackl (HUN), 4:39.28
GOLD – Amalie Smith (GBR), 4:37.02 *Championship Record
SILVER – Noelle Benkler (GER), 4:39.01
BRONZE – Vivien Jackl (HUN), 4:40.40
Smith took the gold medal by almost two seconds, pulling off a massive upset in the 400 IM over two-time defending champion Vivien Jackl of Hungary, who finished with the bronze.
Smith’s time was a personal best by more than four seconds, and it set a host of new records and vaulted her onto the all-time British rankings in the event. Starting with her own British Age Group Record for 15-year-old girls, which stood at 4:41.70 from January of this year.
She also obliterated the Championship record of 4:39.28, which Jackl set, winning her gold medal at last year’s Championships. Smith swam a very different race than Jackl’s record, starting off a second back after the butterfly, and dropping even further to four seconds back of record pace after the backstroke
Smith finished the breaststroke leg, a second-and-a-half ahead of record pace, making up more than five seconds in just one 100. Her freestyle split was also a bit faster than Jackl’s which brought her even more under that record time.
Split Comparison
Leg | New Record: Amalie Smith– 2025 European Junior Championships | Old Record: Vivien Jackl– 2024 European Junior Championships |
Butterfly | 1:04.33 | 1:03.50 |
Backstroke | 1:12.72 (2:17.05) | 1:09.52 (2:13.02) |
Breaststroke | 1:17.09 (3:34.14) | 1:22.75 (3:35.77) |
Freestyle | 1:02.88 | 1:03.52 |
Final Time | 4:37.02 | 4:39.28 |
Smith’s time also moves her way up the British leaderboard to 6th all-time in the event, less than half-a-second behind Olympian Katie Shanahan’s 4:36.67 from last year. Smith was recently 3rd at the 2025 British Championships behind Abbie Wood and Freya Colbert.
Top 6 British Women’s LCM 400 IM Performers All-Time
- Hannah Miley – 4:31.33, 2009
- Aimee Booker (nee Willmott) – 4:33.01, 2014
- Freya Colbert – 4:34.01, 2024
- Abbie Wood – 4:36.66, 2025
- Katie Shanahan – 4:36.67, 2024
- Amalie Smith – 4:37.02, 2025
Smith still has the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke events ahead of her this weekend.
I believe that makes her the 17th fastest all time junior, which is a pretty great achievement at 15!! Watch this space
The future swimming star of GBR.
2028 LA will be electric!
Oh to be 15 and dropping 5s PBs again.
400im is going to be a brutal event over the next decade, so many crazy fast girls coming through.