2025 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- December 2-7, 2025
- Lublin, Poland
- SCM (25 meters)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Recaps:
MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – Semifinals
- 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 Qualifiers:
- Duncan Scott (GBR) / Lucas Henveaux (BEL) – 1:41.56
- Jack McMillan (GBR) – 1:41.69
- Kamil Sieradzki (POL) – 1:41.90
- Robin Hanson (SWE) – 1:41.99
- Tomas Lukminas (LTU) – 1:42.00
- Evan Bailey (IRL) – 1:42.01
- Danas Rapsys (LTU) – 1:42.10
For the second time in mere hours, Evan Bailey has broken the Irish Record in the 200 SCM freestyle.
The 20-year-old stopped the clock at 1:42.01 to take third in the second semifinal, eclipsing the 1:42.68 he produced in today’s prelims. He advanced seventh into tomorrow’s championship final, where the medals are on the line.
Before today, his best time stood at 1:43.61, which he registered to take 18th at Short Course Worlds a year ago.
Bailey was out faster in the morning but brought it home much harder tonight. He was over half a second slower at the 100, but picked up steam on the third 50 before closing in 26.21, nearly three-quarters of a second faster than his 26.95 this morning.
Splits Comparison:
| Split | Prelims | Semifinals | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50m | 23.74 | 23.96 | +0.22 |
| 100m | 49.33 (25.59) | 49.89 (25.93) | +0.56 |
| 150m | 1:15.73 (26.40) | 1:15.80 (25.91) | +0.07 |
| 200m | 1:42.68 (26.95) | 1:42.01 (26.21) | -0.67 |
Entering the competition, Jack McMillan, who now represents Great Britain, held the Irish Record at 1:42.74. McMillan won the 400 free here in Lublin and is seeded third going into the 200 final.
This marks the second time Bailey has surpassed one of McMillan’s national standards. He previously matched McMillan’s 1:46.67 in the long course 200 free at this summer’s World Championships, where he placed 16th in the semifinals.
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.
