2025 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- December 2-7, 2025
- Lublin, Poland
- SCM (25 meters)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Recaps:
MEN’S 200m FREESTYLE – Final
- WR: 1:38.61 – Luke Hobson, USA (2024)
- WJR: 1:40.65 – Matt Sates, RSA (2021)
- ER: 1:39.37 – Paul Biedermann, GER (2009)
- EJR: 1:40.79 – David Popovici, ROU (2022)
- CR: 1:39.81 – Paul Biedermann, GER (2009)
Top 8 Finishers:
- Duncan Scott (GBR) – 1:40.54
- Jack McMillan (GBR) – 1:40.94
- Evan Bailey (IRL) & Kamil Sieradzki (POL) – 1:41.48
- Lucas Henveaux (BEL) – 1:41.66
- Tomas Lukminas (LTU) – 1:41.76
- Danas Rapsys (LTU) – 1:41.76
- Robin Hanson (SWE) – 1:41.81
- N/A
For the third time in 36 hours, Evan Bailey has broken the Irish Record in the 200 SCM freestyle.
Swimming in the final at the European Short Course Championships, the 20-year-old stopped the clock at 1:41.48 to finish equal third with Poland’s Kamil Sieradzki. British teammates Duncan Scott (1:40.54) and Jack McMillan (1:40.94) took gold and silver.
Bailey eclipsed the 1:42.01 he produced in semifinals, which was an improvement from the 1:42.68 record he swam in prelims. Entering the competition, McMillan, who switched nationalities, held the Irish Record at 1:42.74.
The performance ranks him equal 39th all time and fifth in the world this season. Before this week, Bailey’s best time stood at 1:43.61, which he registered to take 18th at the 2024 Short Course Worlds.
Bailey led at 25 meters, slipped to second at the 50, and settled into third for the rest of the race. He opened in 23.78, quicker than his 23.96 from the semifinals, and was nearly two-tenths faster on the second 50 with a 25.76 compared to 25.93. He stayed slightly ahead of his record pace on the third 50, splitting 25.85 to 25.91, before closing eleven hundredths faster in 26.09.
See a full splits comparison between his three record swims below.
Splits Comparison:
| Split | Prelims | Semifinals | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50m | 23.74 | 23.96 | 23.78 |
| 100m | 49.33 (25.59) | 49.89 (25.93) | 49.54 (25.76) |
| 150m | 1:15.73 (26.40) | 1:15.80 (25.91) | 1:15.39 (25.85) |
| 200m | 1:42.68 (26.95) | 1:42.01 (26.21) | 1:41.48 (26.09) |
This past summer, Bailey matched McMillan’s 1:46.67 Irish Record in the long course 200 free at World Championships, where he placed 16th.
At the long course Irish Open in April, Bailey broke out when he won both the 100 free (49.15) and 200 free (1:47.04), both of which were lifetime bests at the time.
Bailey is set to join the Texas Longhorns, the defending NCAA champions, next month. He will arrive in Austin at the same time as two-time World Championship medalist Ksawery Masiuk. The two will join a deep freestyle training group that includes seniors Baylor Nelson and Alec Filipovic, juniors Rex Maurer and Camden Taylor, sophomores Cooper Lucas, Jacob Wimberly, and Garrett Gould, freshmen Aiden Hammer and Rafael Fente-Damers, and pros Luke Hobson, Carson Foster, and Chris Giuliano.
Texas has a long history with middle-distance freestyle success. Longhorns have won 7 of the last 9 NCAA 200 free championships. NCAA record-holder Hobson earned 3 consecutive victories from 2023-2025, Drew Kibler won in 2022, and Townley Haas tripled from 2016-2018.
Bailey is set to line up for the 50 fly (54th seed), 100 free (59th seed), and 50 free (65th seed) later in the meet.
Lad is flying at the moment!