The European Aquatics Championships (commonly referred to as Europeans) is the continental Aquatics championship for Europe, which is organised by European Aquatics (LEN) – the governing body for aquatic sport in Europe. The Championships are currently held every two years (in even years) and since 2022, they have included 5 aquatics disciplines: swimming (long course/50m pool), diving, synchronised swimming, open water swimming and high diving. Prior to 1999, the championships also included water polo, which beginning in 1999 LEN split-off into a separate championships. The open water events are not held during the Olympic year.

The Championships are generally held over a two-week time-period in mid-to-late Summer, but in the most recent Summer Olympics years (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020), the Championships were moved to the Spring to be moved away from the Summer Olympic Games.

The swimming portion of these championships is considered one of the pre-eminent swimming competitions in the world. LEN also conducts an annual short-course (25 meters) swimming championship, which is a completely separate, distinct event (typically held in early December).

Championships Historically, the Championships were first held in 1926, and included water polo prior to 1999 when the discipline was moved to the European Water Polo Championship. From 1973-1999 Europeans were held in years without a Summer Olympics or World Championships, save 1979 (1973 being the inception year of the World Championships; and 1999 being the last year before Worlds moved from even-years between Summer Olympics to every-odd year beginning in 2001). Women were first allowed to participate at the second Championships in 1927.European Championships, 17 April 2011 Number YearHost city Country Events Dates First in the medal table Second in the medal table Third in the medal table11926 Budapest 9 18–22 August 1926 21927 Bologna 16 31 August – 4 September 1927 31931 Paris 16 23–30 August 1931 41934 Magdeburg 16 12–19 August 1934 51938 London 16 6–13 August 1938 Germany 61947 Monte Carlo 16 10–14 September 1947 71950 Vienna 16 20–27 August 1950 81954 Turin 18 31 August – 5 September 1954 91958 Budapest 20 31 August – 6 September 1958 101962 Leipzig 23 18–25 August 1962 111966 Utrecht 23 20–27 August 1966 121970 Barcelona 34 5–13 September 1970 131974 Vienna 37 18–25 August 1974 141977 Jönköping 37 14–21 August 1977 151981 Split 37 4–12 September 1981 161983 Rome 38 22–27 August 1983 171985 Sofia Oslo 39 4–11 August 1985 12–18 August 1985 181987 Strasbourg 41 16–23 August 1987 191989 Bonn 43 15–20 August 1989 201991 Athens Terracina 47 18–25 August 1991 14–15 September 1991 211993 Sheffield Slapy 47 3–8 August 1993 28–29 August 1993 221995 Vienna 47 22–27 August 1995 231997 Seville 51 19–24 August 1997 241999 Istanbul 55 26 July – 1 August 1999 252000 Helsinki 55 3–9 July 2000 262002 Berlin 57 29 July – 4 August 2002 272004 Madrid 58 5–16 May 2004 282006 Budapest 58 26 July – 6 August 2006 292008 Eindhoven 54 13–24 March 2008 302010 Budapest 61 4–15 August 2010 312012 Debrecen Eindhoven 55 15–27 May 2012 322014 Berlin 64 13–24 August 2014 332016 London 649–22 May 2016 342018 GlasgowEdinburgh 72 2–12 August 2018 352020 Budapest 73 10–23 May 2021 362022 Rome 77 11–21 August 2022 372024 Belgrade 74 10–23 June 2024 382026 Paris 76 31 July–16 August 2026  Neutral Athletes B

Medal tables (1926–2026) Updated after the 2026 European Aquatics Championships.

Overall Source:

Note: The table includes medals won in swimming (since 1926), diving (since 1926), synchronized swimming (since 1974), open water swimming (since 1991), high diving (since 2022) and water polo since 1926 until and including 1997 when the discipline was part of the event. From 1999 the water polo event was separated and got its own independent tournament as European Water Polo Championship.

As of 2026, Albania, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Gibraltar, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia and San Marino have yet to win a medal.

Swimming (1926–2026) Source:

Diving (1926–2026)

Artistic swimming (1974–2026)

Open water swimming (1991–2026)

High diving (2022–2026)

Water polo (1926–1997)

Multiple medalists in swimming (long course) These table shows swimmers who have won at least 7 gold medals at the European Championships and is updated after the 2024 European Aquatics Championships.

Men # Swimmer Country Total1Alexander Popov 2132262Adam Peaty 1600163László Cseh 1445234Michael Gross 1342195Pieter van den Hoogenband 1054196Emiliano Brembilla 1030137Filippo Magnini 955198Peter Nocke 910109Duncan Scott 8401210James Guy 8241411Kristóf Milák 8201012Tamás Darnyi 800813Oleh Lisohor 73313

Women # Swimmer Country Total1Sarah Sjöström 1884302Franziska van Almsick 1830213Katinka Hosszú 1564254Freya Anderson 1134185Heike Friedrich 1120136Simona Quadarella 1111137Therese Alshammar 1074218Fran Halsall 1034179Yana Klochkova 10241610Sandra Völker 9441711Krisztina Egerszegi 9401312Astrid Strauss 9401313Laure Manaudou 9131314Kristin Otto 9111115Ute Geweniger 9101016Federica Pellegrini 7672017Yuliya Yefimova 7421318Mette Jacobsen 7381819Daniela Hunger 7301020Boglárka Kapás 7241320Ágnes Kovács 7241322Lucy Hope 720922Britta Steffen 7209

Championships records

See also List of European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (men) List of European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women) List of European Aquatics Championships medalists in open water swimming List of European Aquatics Championships medalists in artistic swimming European Short Course Swimming Championships

References

External links

Swim Rankings results The event at SVT's open archive