2025 European Junior Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

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:
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

We’re about to see day three of the 2025 European Junior Championships unfold with a host of speedy events on the lineup in Slovakia.

18-year-old Martine Damborg of Denmark is slated to race in both the girls’ 50m free and 100m butterfly finals this evening, with the budding ace hoping to successfully defend her European Junior title in the latter on her way to gold.

In the splash n’ dash, she’ll need to fend off University of Virginia commit Jana Pavalic who holds fast as the top-seeded swimmer and the sole competitor to carry a sub-25-second performance into the final.

On the men’s side, neutral athlete Mikhail Shcherbakov will do his best to deny Romanian Robert-Andrei Badea a repeat gold in the 200m IM. The former holds an over-second advantage in tonight’s main event but anything can happen when medals are on the line.

A high-caliber race is expected in the boys’ 1500m free, as reigning European Junior champion and World Junior Record holder Kuzey Tuncelli of Turkey already showed his dominance in the prelims.

The 17-year-old clocked an early round outing of 15:02.50 to set himself apart from the field by 15 seconds. We’ll see what the teen has in store this evening, followed by a potentially spicy girls’ 4x200m freestyle relay.

GIRLS 200 BACKSTROKE – SEMIFINAL

• World Junior Record: 2:03.35, Regan Smith (2019)
• European Junior Record: 2:06.62
• European Record: 2:04.94, Anastasia Fesikova (2009)
• Championship Record: 2:08.97, Polina Egorova (2017)
• 2024 European Junior Champion: Estella Llum Tonrath Nollgen (ESP), 2:10.78

Top 8:

1. Estella Llum Tonrath Nollgen (ESP), 2:10.68
2. Nahia Garrido Malvar (ESP), 2:12.46
3. Shadee Montassier (FRA), 2:13.24
4. Aissia-Claudia Prisecariu (ROU), 2:14.20
5. Anastasiia Kobzar (AIN), 2:14.47
6. Daria Zarubenkova (AIN), 2:14.53
7. Fanni Viktoria Kokas (HUN), 2:14.89
8. Viola Ricci (ITA), 2:15.42

Spain snagged the top two slots in the girls’ 200m backstroke, led by the 2024 European Junior Championships gold medalist Estella Nollgen.

Although tonight’s performance of 2:10.68 was off the 2:09.92 logged this morning, it was enough to set herself apart from the field by nearly 2 seconds.

Teammate Nahia Garrido Malvar was next in 2:12.46 while French swimmer Shadee Montassier will also flank Nollgen in tomorrow night’s main event.

Lurking as the 4th-seeded athlete is Aissia-Claudia Prisecariu, who will try to upgrade her runner-up status from last year.

As a reminder, Nollgen is Spain’s national record holder in this event, owning a lifetime best of 2:08.03 from last month’s Spanish Championships.

BOYS 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – FINAL

• 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

GOLD – Mikhail Shcherbakov (AIN), 1:59.04 *Championship Record
SILVER – Robert-Andrei Badea (ROU), 2:00.59
BRONZE – Iason Routoulas (GRE), 2:01.18

Our first championship record of the night went down, courtesy of Mikhail Shcherbakov in this boys’ 200m IM final.

The 17-year-old Russian, competing as a neutral athlete here, stopped the clock at a swift time of 1:59.04 to the job done for gold, erasing Olympic champion Tom Dean of Great Britain’s former meet mark of 1:59.17 from 2018.

Shcherbakov split 25.49/30.36 (55.85)/34.83/28.36 en route to victory, beating the field by over one and a half seconds.

The teen has only been sub-2:00 on one other occasion, entering this competition with a lifetime best of 1:59.46 from April of last year.

Last year’s winner, Robert-Andrei Badea of Romania, had to settle for silver this time around in 2:00.59 while Greece captured its first medal with Iason Routoulas‘ bronze medal-worthy result of 2:01.18.

GIRLS 50 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• 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

GOLD – Martine Damborg (DEN), 25.00
SILVER – Theodora Taylor (GBR), 25.12 & Kira Manokhina (AIN), 25.12
BRONZE – 

A surprise and unfortunate disqualification from reigning European Junior champion Jana Pavalic of Croatia opened the door for 18-year-old Martine Damborg of Denmark to soar to the wall with the gold.

Damorg, racing in both this final as well as the 100m fly final later in the session, put up a time of 25.00 to top the podium, a new personal best by .02.

British ace Theodora Taylor, a two-time European Junior Championships medalist last year in the girls’ breaststroke discipline, turned in a time of 25.12 to earn the silver medal.

But Taylor wasn’t alone, as neutral athlete Kira Manokhina touched simultaneously for the pair to share that tier of the podium.

For perspective, last year’s champion Sara Curtis of Italy was much quicker, nabbing gold in 24.68.

BOYS 50 FREESTYLE – SEMIFINAL

• World Junior Record: 21.75, Michael Andrew (2017)
• European Junior Record: 21.83, Artem Selin (2019)
• European Record: 20.94, Frederick Bousquet (2009)
• Championship Record: 21.83, Artem Selin (2019)
• 2024 European Junior Champion: Lorenzo Ballarati (ITA), 22.20

Top 8:

1. Luca Hoek le Guenedal (ESP), 21.99
2. Nikita Sheremet (UKR), 22.16
3. Jan Foltyn (CZE), 22.27
4. Roman Zhidkov (AIN), 22.42 & Tajus Juska (LTU), 22.42
5. –
6. Justin Cvetkov (SRB), 22.43
7. Vincent van Hooydonck (BEL), 22.50
8. Szymon Mroz (POL), 22.54

17-year-old Luca Hoek le Guenedal of Spain proved his 48.14 lead-off on his nation’s gold medal-winning mixed 4x100m free relay yesterday was anything but a fluke.

Racing in the semi-finals of the boys’ 50m free tonight, le Guenedal unleashed a head-turning mark of 21.99 to take the top spot among the contenders, establishing a new national record in the process.

The former Spanish standard entering this competition stood at the 22.04 Javier Noriega put on the books way back in 2009 while le Guenedal’s former personal best rested at the 22.28 notched last month. This means teen le Guenedal is his nation’s first-ever sub-22-second 50m freestyler ever.

Ukraine’s Nikita Sheremet already impressed with a rapid morning outing of 22.20 and managed to shave off another 22.16 to log another PB en route to the 2nd seed.

Jan Foltyn of the Czech Republic (22.27), neutral athlete Roman Zhidkov (22.42) and Lithuania’s 200m freestyle silver medalist here Tajus Juska (22.42) are also in the mix for a potential medal tomorrow night.

GIRLS 200 BREASTSTROKE – SEMIFINAL

• World Junior Record: 2:19.64, Viktoria Gunes (2015)
• European Junior Record: 2:19.64, Viktoria Gunes (2015)
• European Record: 2:17.55, Evgeniia Chikunova (2023)
• Championship Record: 2:21.07, Evgeniia Chikunova (2019)
• 2024 European Junior Champion: Lena Ludwig (GER), 2:28.70

Top 8:

1. Viktoriia Tarannikova (AIN), 2:27.38
2. Lena Ludwig (GER), 2:27.85
3. Hannah Schneider (GER), 2:28.40
4. Paulina Baran (POL), 2:28.47
5. Daria Asaftei (ROU), 2:28.51
6. Kay-Lyn Lohr (SUI), 2:29.38
7. Marta Taddei (ITA), 2:29.50
8. Lucrezia Mancini (ITA), 2:29.76

Nothing too crazy transpired in the girls’ 200m breaststroke semi-finals with all of the top 8 contenders all clearing the 2:30-barrier.

Neutral athlete Viktoriia Tarannikova of Russia led the way, punching a result of 2:27.38 to land lane 4 for tomorrow evening’s main event. That checked in as a new personal best for the swimmer who is only 15 years of age, overtaking her previous PB of 2:28.25 from April of this year.

Germany’s Lena Ludwig, the champion from 2024, held fast for the 2nd seed in 2:27.85, already quicker than the 2:28.70 which garnered her the gold last year.

Teammate and 2024 bronze medalist in this event, Hannah Schneider rounded out the top 3 performers in 2:28.40.

Of note, last year’s silver medalist Taylor of Great Britain bypassed this event this time around, instead vying for hardware in the 50m free earlier in the session where she nabbed the silver medal.

BOYS 200 BREASTSTROKE – SEMIFINAL

• World Junior Record: 2:08.83, Zhihao Dong (2023)
• European Junior Record: 2:09.64
• European Record: 2:06.12, Anton Chupkov (2019)
• Championship Record: 2:10.69, Anton Chupkov (2015)
• 2024 European Junior Champion: Doruk Yogurtcuoglu (TUR), 2:12.66

Top 8:

1. Filip Nowacki (GBR), 2:09.11 *European Jr Record, Championship Record
2. Doruk Yogurtcuoglu (TUR), 2:10.63
3. Daniil Pisetskii (AIN), 2:11.69
4. Michele Longobardo (ITA), 2:11.71
5. Darius-Stefan Coman (ROU), 2:11.94
6. Nikita Batuey (AIN), 2:12.58
7. Daniel Rumenov Marinov (NOR), 2:13.33
8. Domas Vilimas (LTU), 2:13.34

The boys’ 200m breaststroke semi-finals turned into the Filip Nowacki show as the 17-year-old Brit fired off a huge new European Junior Record en route to capturing the #1 seed.

Nowacki stopped the clock at a fierce time of 2:09.11 to produce his first-ever result under the 2:10 barrier.

That outing overtook the European Junior Record benchmark of 2:09.64 as well as the championship record Russian Olympian Anton Chupkov established in 2015.

Before this competition, Nowacki’s personal best rested at the 2:10.53 he notched at the AP Race International this past May to rank 11th on the all-time GBR list with an Age Record to boot.

Tonight, Nowacki split 29.43/32.64 (1:02.07)/33.29/33.75 to now check in among the top 10 British performers of all time, with the list boasting such icons as Ross Murdoch, Michael Jamieson, James Wilby, Andrew Willis and Adam Peaty.

Still in the mix for a potential upset tomorrow evening will be 2nd-seeded Doruk Yogurtcuoglu, the reigning champion, and 3rd-seeded Daniil Pisetskii. Of note, Yogurtcuoglu’s earlier semi-final time of 2:10.63 also cleared Chupkov’s former meet mark.

Also, Darius-Stefan Coman of Romania nailed a new national record of 2:11.94 to claim the 5th seed. That performance obliterated the former national standard of 2:14.73 Dragos Agache logged at the 2011 Romanian Nationals.

BOYS 200 BACKSTROKE – SEMIFINAL

• World Junior Record: 1:55.14, Kliment Kolesnikov (2017)
• European Junior Record: 1:55.14, Kliment Kolesnikov (2017)
• European Record: 1:53.23, Evgeny Rylov (2021)
• Championship Record: 1:55.79, Oleksandr Zheltyakov (2023)
• 2024 European Junior Champion: John Shortt (IRL), 1:57.68

Top 8:

1. John Shortt (IRL), 1:58.12
2. Zsombor Racz (HUN), 1:58.91
3. Daniele del Signore (ITA), 1:59.04
4. Aukan Goldin (ISR), 1:59.09
5. Nathan Muratory (FRA), 1:59.22
6. Carlos Gonzalez Cabello (ESP), 2:00.21
7. Mark Shibanov (AIN), 2:00.51
8. Ivan Kumanin (AIN), 2:00.85

Reigning European Junior champion John Shortt of Ireland looks well on his way to successfully defending his 200m backstroke title, capturing the top seed tonight in 1:58.12.

Shortt topped the podium in 1:57.68 last year and owns a lifetime best of 1:56.61 from April’s Irish Championships, so he has the mettle to make it happen once the medals are on the line.

Also sub-1:59 tonight was Zsombor Racz of Hungary, boasting a time of 1:58.91 for the 2nd seed. That’s a big new PB for the teen and first-ever foray under the 2:00 barrier. He overtook his previous PB of 2:00.04 from April.

Italy has representation in the form of Daniele del Signore as the 3rd seed (1:59.04) while Israeli Aukan Goldin (1:59.09) and Frenchman Nathan Muratory (1:59.22) were also under the 2:00 barrier.

GIRLS 100 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• 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

GOLD – Martine Damborg (DEN), 58.30
SILVER – Aliisa Soini (FIN), 58.95
BRONZE – Flawia Kamzol (POL), 59.10

Martine Damborg successfully doubled up on her 50 free gold with another top finish in this 100m butterfly.

Damborg produced a winning effort of 58.30 to clear the field by over half a second, splitting 27.43/30.87 in the process to bump herself up from 3rd place to 1st after the first half of the race.

Behind her was Finnish swimmer Aliisa Soini, giving her nation its first medal of these championships. Soini punched a time of 58.95 to beat her former PB of 59.19 from April of this year.

The leader through both prelims and semi-finals, Flawia Kamzol of Poland settled for bronze in 59.10.

BOYS 100 BUTTERFLY – SEMIFINAL

• World Junior Record: 50.62, Kristof Milak (2017)
• European Junior Record: 50.62, Kristof Milak (2017)
• European Record: 49.68, Kristof Milak (2021)
• Championship Record: 51.35, Egor Kuimov (2017)
• 2024 European Junior Champion: Daniele Momoni (ITA), 52.20

Top 8:

1. Dean Fearn (GBR), 52.66
2. Evgenii Shilovskii (AIN), 52.93
3. Francesco Ceolin (ITA), 52.99
4. Arda Akkyun (TUR), 53.08
5. Egor Proshin (AIN), 53.13
6. Tajus Juska (LTU), 53.16
7. Isak Fernandez Rodrigo (ESP), 53.16
8. David Antal (HUN), 53.24

Tonight’s boys’ 200m fly semi-finals saw a trio of competitors clear the 53-second barrier as they set themselves up for tomorrow night’s medal-deciding contest.

17-year-old Dean Fearn of Great Britain landed the pole position with an outing of 52.66 (24.26/28.40) to obliterate his former lifetime best of 53.47 from this year’s Aquatics GB Championships.

Just like that, teenager Fearn now ranks as Great Britain’s 22nd-best performer to date in this event.

Neutral athlete Evgenii Shilovskii put up a marker of 52.93 as the 2nd seed and Francesco Ceolin of Italy also put his hat in the ring with a semi swim of 52.99.

Unfortunately for British swimming fans, the current British Age Record holder for 17-year-olds, Jack Brown, fell to 9th in a time of 53.27, well off his NAG of 51.78 from the World Trials.

BOYS 1500 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 14:41.89, Kuzey Tuncelli (2024)
• European Junior Record: 14:41.89, Kuzey Tuncelli (2024)
• European Record: 14:32.80, Gregorio Paltrinieri (2022)
• Championship Record: 14:41.89, Kuzey Tuncelli (2024)
• 2024 European Junior Champion: Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR), 14:41.89

GOLD – Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR), 14:45.05
SILVER – Johannes Liebmann (GER), 14:53.15
BRONZE – Cristobal Vargas Trujillo (ESP), 15:11.34

17-year-old Kuzey Tuncelli earned his third consecutive European Junior Championsips 1500m free title, dominating tonight’s field in an impressive performance of 14:45.05.

Tuncelli’s time was within striking distance of the 14:41.89 European Junior Record and meet record he established last year when he topped the podium.

Not terribly far off Tuncelli was Germany’s 18-year-old Johannes Liebmann, clocking just his 2nd-ever effort under the 15:00 barrier.

At a domestic meet earlier this season, Liebmann notched a new German Age Record of 14:57.00 with tonight’s outing hacking another big chunk of time off to become a one-to-watch in the coming quad.

Spain’s Cristobal Vargas Trujillo earned bronze tonight in 15:11.34.

After tonight’s race, Tuncelli now ranks 5th in the world on the season, while Liebmann represents the 12th-best swimmer at the moment.

GIRLS 4×200 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 7:51.47, Canada (2017)
• European Junior Record: 7:57.33, Russia (2017)
• European Record: 7:45.51, Great Britain (2009)
• Championship Record: 7:58.99, Hungary (2017)
• 2024 European Junior Champion: Hungary, 8:01.11

GOLD – Italy, 7:56.06 *European Junior Record, Championship Record
SILVER – Lithuania, 8:02.15
BRONZE – Great Britain, 8:04.12

What a way to close the session, as the Italian girls’ 4x200m free relay smashed the European Junior Record as they demolished the field in a final time of 7:56.06.

The foursome of Lucrezia Domina, Bianca Nannucci, Chiara Sama and Alessandro Mao scored the sole time of the final under the 8:00 barrier. Their 7:56.06 stunner beat the former European Junior Record of 7:57.33 Russia nabbed in 2017 as well as the 7:59.99 Championship Record Hungary turned in that same year.

Domina led the relay off with a time of 1:59.69 before turning it over to individual 200m free champion Nannucci who kept the momentum with 1:59.65.

Sama’s 3rd leg hit 1:59.19 before anchor Mao fired off a feisty final 200m of 1:57.53 to seal the deal.

Lithuania was next to the wall in 8:02.15 and Great Britain earned bronze in 8:04.12.