Paris Selected As Host of 2026 European Aquatics Championships

European Aquatics announced Wednesday that Paris-St Denis has been selected as the site of the 2026 European Aquatics Championships, following up on the expected success of the 2024 Olympic campaign this summer.

The event, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the European Championships, will be hosted by the French Swimming Federation (FFN). The first European Championships was hosted in Budapest in 1926.

France’s Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports hosted a press conference in Paris where it was declared that the championships would “unite European Aquatics around a common vision: that of a sport that is respectful of the environment, accessible to all, and focused on innovation and performance.”

Minister Amélie Oudea-Castera said: “I am delighted that we can announce the hosting of the 2026 European Championships, confirming France’s rise as a major organizer of major international sporting events, culminating with the Games in less than six months’ time and these European Championships two years later. But there is also great satisfaction in seeing how these sport events help in the transformation of our regions and, above all, the education of our young people.”

Press Conference 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔 👀

One hundred years after the inaugural European Aquatics Championships, Paris – Saint-Denis will host the 2026 edition of the competition 🤩

📷: KMSP/S.Kempinaire pic.twitter.com/wTuIxFUjS1

— European Aquatics (@LENaquatics) January 24, 2024

The event will use the same venues as the aquatics events at the Paris Olympics, with the Olympic Aquatics Centre (OAC) being the hub of the pool swimming, diving, water polo and artistic swimming competitions. The OAC is notably the only permanent sports facility built for the 2024 Games.

The Seine, which has caused some headaches due to poor water quality in the lead-up to the Olympics, will host the open water events. There will also be a platform constructed at the Seine in order to host the high diving competition.

The 2026 event will mark the third time France has hosted the European Aquatics Championships and the second time Paris has been the hub city. Paris hosted the third edition in 1931, and then in 1987, the eastern French city of Strasbourg hosted the event.

The announcement capitalizes on the recent surge we’ve seen in French swimming, spearheaded by superstar Leon Marchand who is coming off winning three World Championship titles and breaking a historic world record at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.

Marchand opted out of the 2022 European Championships in Rome, but will surely be circling the 2026 event on his schedule.

Another breakout star in the pool for France is Maxime Grousset, who won gold in the men’s 100 fly and a pair of bronzes in the 100 free and 50 fly at the 2023 Worlds, while Jules Bouyer and Alexis Jandard (men’s 3-meter synchronized diving) and Gary Hunt (men’s high diving) also won medals in Fukuoka and will likely feature prominently at the 2026 Euros for the French contingent.

The 2024 edition of the European Aquatics will run later this year, June 10-23, in the Serbian capital city of Belgrade, which was moved from Kazan, Russia due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Official dates for the 2026 event have not been set, but in non-Olympic years, the European Championships usually take place in August.