A superb performance by British swimmers at the European Aquatics Masters Championships

The final meet in the British Masters calendar took a large team from across the Isles to Samorin, Slovakia, for the coveted European Aquatics Masters Championships.

With Paris opting out of the hosting duties this time, swimmers were treated to the stunning X-Bionic Olympic facility, with sunshine and sunbeds aplenty. Every swimmer travelling and representing their respective clubs did marvellously, and by racing alongside fantastic European competition, there was success, medals and records.

Overall medals table

Great Britain second overall in the medal table

The mark of a huge success, British swimmers brought home a whopping 170 medals. German teams, who arrived in huge numbers dominated events, and claim the top spot in the overall medals tables. As ever, they prove to be one of the leading international examples for a thriving Masters community.

Britain vied with Italy across the competition for the 2nd and 3rd place spots, but a flurry of wins on the final day put GB in firmly ahead. A final statement of British swimming quality was cemented in the last two races of the competition. Jess Shaw (OTTER SC) stormed to a gold medal, and a championship record in the 25-29 100m Backstroke with an emphatic 1:05.35. In the following heat, Aimee Masters (TIGERSHARKS ASC) secured the final gold on offer with a dominant 1:08.37 in the 20-24 age group.

Every race and every success has a story

It would be impossible to fully understand the full story and the journey each of the British swimmers embarked on to swim at, and succeed at the EAMasters26, but there are some headlines that are impossible to ignore.

Dan Mills (TRAFFORD MET)

Following on from fine record-breaking form at the British Masters in Aberdeen, Dan secured British records in the 200FR, 400FR, and 800FR. In each of those events, Dan was only beaten by former Olympians.

Arran Francis (TRAFFORD MET)

Arran’s return to swimming goes from strength to strength, and his swims across the meet went the same way. After breaking the 25-29 British record in the 50FR with a 23.31, Arran returned to the pool the following day and led off a Mixed Free relay with 23.15. A powerful 100FR secured a gold medal, British Record and a maiden sub-51 time.

Vicki Payne (CARDIFF)

Vicki’s hand luggage would have been much heavier on the way back to Wales after bagging no less than four gold medals. After securing the 200IM, 100BR, and 50BR wins, Vicki wrapped up her meet in style with a British Record in a dominant 200BR showing.

Alyson Fordham (BLACK COUNTRY N POTTERIES)

The 50FR swim performed by Alyson was simply inspired. With by far her quickest swim of the season, she touched for gold, securing a European, British and Championship record for the 70-74 age group. But Alison would not be stopped. After claiming another pair of records in the relays, she swam to a European and British record in the 100FR, swimming a clear three seconds quicker than the British Masters time from two months prior.

Ian McKay (WARRENDER BATHS)

Ian proved that moving up through age groups in Masters swimming seldom means you get slower. With his fastest time in two years, Ian crushed the opposition to claim an emphatic European and British record in the 70-74 age group for 50FR. However, Ian’s work was not done. In a crushing 50FL race, whereby he won by 6.5 seconds, he stormed to a World, European, British and Championship record with a 29.60. To put that in perspective, Ian was the only swimmer over 65 to break 30-seconds.

Alastair Macgregor (WARRENDER BATHS)

It wouldn’t be fair to point out Ian’s successes without noting the achievements of his colleague, Alastair. With Championship records in the 80-84 age group in the 50FR, 100FR, two relays and a PB in the 50BK, he can be very happy.

Paul Callis (CITY OF SHEFFIELD)

With five Masters PBs, Paul can be very happy with performances that warranted a heavy haul of medals. His Slovakian campaign came together for the 200BR, where his dominant victory earned a gold medal and a well-earned British record.

Kalon Veale (TOTNES)

Kalon arrived as part of a Totnes trio with high aspirations. A splendid array of swims saw medals and British record near misses, but in the final event for the team, Kalon won a spectacular 100BK to claim gold and a British record. But Kalon had to work hard for the victory, with swimmers from Spain and Italy only 0.07 and 0.14 seconds behind, respectively. The result unifies the LC and SC 100BK records under Kalon’s name.

Janet McLean (CARNEGIE)

Janet McLean was another big winner, with 3 golds and a silver.

Audrey Cooper (SILVER CITY BLUES)

Janet McLean was another big winner, with 3 golds and a silver, including a big win in the 800m Freestyle.

Remarkable relay success, team-by-team

Team GB have the accolade of most medals of any country at the championships, with a very respectable 6 gold medals amongst them. Just being able to form a team at an overseas meet deserves praise, so find out how each team performed from the report below.

Black Country n Potteries Masters Swimming Club

These women had an incredible relay campaign, comprehensively winning the 4x50m Free relay in the morning, before doing the same again in the afternoon. Both swims were Championship records.

GB Police

Candidates for the loudest support in the tribune, GB Police entered every relay, with teams spanning the 100-119, 120-159 and 160-199 age groups. They departed Samorin with a bronze and a gold in the male/open events, with strong showings in the female and mixed races.

Warrender Baths

Swimming in the Male/Open 280-319 age group, the team added to their individual medal haul with a Championship record gold in the 4x 50 Free and 4x 50 Medley.

Trafford Metro

Another team that was a relay regular, Trafford Met battled to an impressive haul of medals. The Womens team battled amongst the medal places with two Polish teams in an exciting first race. The Male/Open team then competed to the wire against Neutral Athletes, taking second with an astonishing sub-23 anchor leg from James Simpson.

The Mixed Medley relay was another exciting race, with Helen Sadler’s anchor leg proving her veteran quality. On the final length, she overtook an Austrian competitive 29 years younger to take silver for the team.

Trafford Met would again be denied a gold in the Mixed Free relay, despite a British record opening leg from Arran Francis.

Trafford would finally claim their gold in the Open/Male 4x 50 Medley. After taking the lead early from Daniel Korcz 28.78 backstroke opener, James Simpson would extend the lead with a phenomenal 28.66 breaststroke leg. Gareth Allen would consolidate the lead with a 25.22 Fly leg, handing over to Arran Francis whose 22.54 anchor leg would keep him ahead of the charging former Olympian, Filip Wypych.

City of Sheffield

Competing in the 200-239 age group, City of Sheffield would claim a bronze in the Open/Male 4x 50 Free. A strong team effort kept them in contention, but it was their headline swimmer Paul Callis who made the difference. He anchored the quartet from 6th in the heat, leapfrogging three teams to claim bronze.

Preston

Preston’s women claimed a British record in a swim they can celebrate. Emma Jones, Emily Lawrence, Elissa Gornall and Leah Williams made British Masters history in a race where they pushed the competition the full distance. Incredible splits from across the team secured two silvers, and respectable placings in the Mixed relays.

Silver City Blues

Representing GB in the 80+ category, the Female team competed in both the Free and Medley relays, claiming two bronze medals from a tough pool of competition. Their race in the 200-239 Mixed Medley is also praiseworthy, with a 10th place finish.

Newmarket & Dist

Swimming out of Suffolk, Newmarkets team put in spirited swims to finish 9th in the Female Free relay with a heat win, and 7th in the Medley relay, which also constituted an East Region record.

Stowmarket SC

Another Suffolk club, Stowmarket competed in the 80+ category, fiercely racing in the Open/Male Free and Medley, claiming two silvers. In the mixed relay, the team fought with German teams either side to finish seventh for a regional record.

East Leeds SC

East Leeds fought well to finish 6th in the Free Relay for the 120-159 age group.

Dundee City

Another team that featured exclusively in the Mixed Relays, they finished a strong 8th in the 160-199 Free Relay, and 8th in the 160-199 Medley Relay

Tigersharks ASC

In the Mixed Freestyle relay in the 200-239 age group, Tigersharks battled to an excellent 6th out of 16 entrants. The Mixed Medley entry finished 2nd in the 80+ age group.

Into the 2026/27 season

The focus for many Masters swimmers now turns to the National Masters in Sheffield, for which Phase 1 entries have closed, and Phase 2 are about to open.

If you want to review the results of the European Aquatics Championships, you can do so here:

European Masters Official Results

If you use the medal table, please attribute with a link to this page. It was not a quick process logging every medal across the swimming competition!