2023 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- December 5-10, 2023
- Otopeni Olympic Swimming Complex, Bucharest, Romania
- Short Course Meters (25 meters)
- Prelims 2:30am (ET), Finals 11am (ET)
- Entries Book
- Live Results (Omega)
- Live Results (Microplus Timing)
- Eurovision Sport Livestream
The 2023 European Short Course Championships concluded tonight in Otopeni, with Great Britain securing the top spot in the medal table standings. They collected more gold medals (9) than any other nation, and tied for the most total medals (23) with France.
Italy made a charge tonight, as they only won one gold medal through the first five days of the competition. Tonight, they earned an additional six to make it a total of seven, rocketing them up to second overall in this year’s standings. Their performance tonight improves on the 3rd place showing they produced at the 2021 edition of these championships, where they also won a total of seven gold medals.
Italy kicked the night off with a win in the 50 breaststroke, as Nicolo Martinenghi recorded a time of 25.66 to secure his first individual gold of the meet. They kept rolling from there, as Lorenzo Mora took the 200 back title, Simona Quadarella topped the 400 free field, Alberto Razzetti shattered the Italian record en route to gold in the 400 IM, Benedetta Pilato broke the championship record to claim gold in the 50 breast, and ended the night with a win in the mixed 4×50 medley relay.
Great Britain capped off the meet tonight with an additional gold medal in the form of Freya Anderson. Anderson took the 200 freestyle win in 1:52.16, touching half a second ahead of Barbora Seemanova of the Czech Republic. Anderson’s gold increased the Team GB tally from eight to nine, and joined the following gold medal winners:
- Freya Anderson, 200 Freestyle, 1:52.16
- Benjamin Proud, 50 Freestyle, 20.18
- Matt Richards, 200 Feestyle, 1:41.01
- Duncan Scott, 200 IM, 1:50.98
- Medi Harris, 200 Backstroke, 2:02.45
- Abbie Wood, 200 IM, 2:05.58
- Abbie Wood, 400 IM, 4:27.45
- Men’s 4×50 Freestyle Relay, 1:22.52
- Mixed 4×50 Freestyle Relay, 1:27.75
This was a big performance for the British team, as they saw a number of their swimmers make a return to form at this competition. James Guy made his first 200 freestyle international podium in seven years, Luke Greenbank swam his first best time since 2021, Duncan Scott looks like he has returned to his best after illness-filled 2023, and Kathleen Dawson swam the best she has since her breakout before the Tokyo Olympics.
While Great Britain opted to pull out of the last edition of this meet, they significantly improved on their 5th place finish in the medal standings from 2019 – where they won 3 golds.
Overall Medal Table:
Watch Team GB Lift the Trophy:
Top of the medal table! 🏆🎉 https://t.co/BuxUkjd5Ge
— Aquatics GB (@Aquatics_GB) December 10, 2023
