Theodora Taylor Clocks 25.17 Prelims 50 Free at Euro Juniors, .5 Off of EJR Championship Record

2026 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 7 – Sunday, July 12, 2026
• Munich, Germany
• LCM (50 meters)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap

The 2nd day of the European Junior Championships is off and underway. Unlike day 1, which saw a pair of records fall in the prelims, day 2 will have to wait until the finals to see any more records potentially broken. That is not to say there weren’t some impressive performances in Munich on Wednesday.

Great Britain’s Theodora Taylor, who was a major contributor to Great Britain’s women’s 4×100 freestyle relay European junior record yesterday with her 53.42 anchor split, continued her productive outing by posting the top time from the prelims in the women’s 50 free in 25.17.

That swim still sits well off of her lifetime best of 24.59 from the Aquatics GB Championships from earlier this season, but it puts her only three tenths off of the Championship record from Italy’s Sara Curtis‘ 2024 time of 24.67. She will not have a smooth road ahead of her, as two other swimmers managed to touch within a tenth of a second of Taylor in the prelims; those being Spain’s Irene Ciercoles Galve (25.21) and Neutral Athlete Kira Manokhina (25.25).

The women’s 100 fly was another tightly contested prelim, as Germany’s Yara Fay Riefstahl claimed the top time in 59.30, ahead of a pair of sub-1:00 performers in Varvara Khvesiuk (Neutral Athlete) and Barbara Lesniewska (Poland) in 59.52 and 59.60, respectively. Each of the top seven swimmers from the prelims was separated by less than a full second, while the next nine swimmers were just over a second off of that group themselves.

Neutral Athlete Mikhail Scherbakov swam to the top qualifying time in the men’s 200 IM prelim by nearly a full second, clocking 2:00.63, while only three other swimmers in the prelim managed to swim under the 2:02 mark, as Emre Onus (Turkey, 2:01.53), Daniel Ransom (Great Britain, 2:01.54), and Christian Giefing (Austria, 2:01.81) will look to maintain their spot though the semifinals of the event and move onto the event final.

Other Events:

• Spain’s Juan Vallmitjana Behrendt was the fastest performer in the men’s 1500 freestyle in 15:21.22. Breathing down his neck is France’s Adrien Espriet in 15:22.31. Only four swimmers clocked sub-15:30.00 times, making for a potentially highly competitive event final.
• In one of the tightest events of the prelims, Spain’s 4×100 mixed freestyle relay narrowly grabbed the top spot in 3:39.16, just out-touching Great Britain in 3:29.36. Also very much in contention is Italy with a prelims time of 3:29.81, making it anybody’s race for the championship final.
• Neutral Athlete Kseniia Misharina cruised to the top seed in the women’s 1500 free, touching more than six seconds ahead of the field in 16:28.07.