LEN European Aquatics Championships

European Aquatics Championships
StatusActive
GenreSporting event
Date(s)Mid-year
FrequencyBiennial
CountryVarying
Inaugurated1926 (1926)

The European Aquatics Championships is the continental Aquatics championship for Europe, which is organised by LEN—the governing body for aquatics 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.[1]

Number Year Host city Country Events Dates First in the medal table Second in the medal table Third in the medal table
1 1926 Budapest Hungary 9 18–22 August 1926 Germany Sweden Hungary
2 1927 Bologna Italy 16 31 August – 4 September 1927 Germany Sweden Netherlands
3 1931 Paris France 16 23–30 August 1931 Hungary Germany Netherlands
4 1934 Magdeburg Germany 16 12–19 August 1934 Germany Netherlands Hungary
5 1938 London Great Britain 16 6–13 August 1938 Germany Denmark Netherlands
6 1947 Monte Carlo Monaco 16 10–14 September 1947 France Denmark Hungary
7 1950 Vienna Austria 16 20–27 August 1950 France Netherlands West Germany
8 1954 Turin Italy 18 31 August – 5 September 1954 Hungary Soviet Union East Germany
9 1958 Budapest Hungary 20 31 August – 6 September 1958 Soviet Union Great Britain Netherlands
10 1962 Leipzig East Germany 23 18–25 August 1962 Netherlands East Germany Soviet Union
11 1966 Utrecht Netherlands 23 20–27 August 1966 Soviet Union East Germany Netherlands
12 1970 Barcelona Spain 34 5–13 September 1970 East Germany Soviet Union West Germany
13 1974 Vienna Austria 37 18–25 August 1974 East Germany West Germany Great Britain
14 1977 Jönköping Sweden 37 14–21 August 1977 East Germany Soviet Union West Germany
15 1981 Split Yugoslavia 37 4–12 September 1981 East Germany Soviet Union Great Britain
16 1983 Rome Italy 38 22–27 August 1983 East Germany Soviet Union West Germany
17 1985 Sofia
Oslo
Bulgaria
Norway
39 4–11 August 1985
12–18 August 1985
East Germany Soviet Union West Germany
18 1987 Strasbourg France 41 16–23 August 1987 East Germany Soviet Union West Germany
19 1989 Bonn West Germany 43 15–20 August 1989 East Germany Soviet Union France
20 1991 Athens
Terracina
Greece
Italy
47 18–25 August 1991
14–15 September 1991
Soviet Union Germany Hungary
21 1993 Sheffield
Slapy
Great Britain
Czech Republic
47 3–8 August 1993
28–29 August 1993
Germany Russia Hungary
22 1995 Vienna Austria 47 22–27 August 1995 Russia Germany Hungary
23 1997 Seville Spain 51 19–24 August 1997 Russia Germany Hungary
24 1999 Istanbul Turkey 55 26 July – 1 August 1999 Germany Russia Netherlands
25 2000 Helsinki Finland 55 3–9 July 2000 Russia Germany Italy
26 2002 Berlin Germany 57 29 July – 4 August 2002 Germany Russia Italy
27 2004 Madrid Spain 58 5–16 May 2004 Ukraine Russia Italy
28 2006 Budapest Hungary 58 26 July – 6 August 2006 Russia Germany France
29 2008 Eindhoven Netherlands 54 13–24 March 2008 Russia Italy France
30 2010 Budapest Hungary 61 4–15 August 2010 Russia Germany France
31 2012 Debrecen
Eindhoven
Hungary
Netherlands
55 15–27 May 2012 Hungary Germany Italy
32 2014 Berlin Germany 64 13–24 August 2014 Great Britain Russia Italy
33 2016 London Great Britain 64 9–22 May 2016 Great Britain Hungary Russia
34 2018[a] Glasgow
Edinburgh
Great Britain 72 2–12 August 2018 Russia Great Britain Italy
35 2020 Budapest Hungary 73 10–23 May 2021 Russia Great Britain Italy
36 2022 Rome Italy 77 11–21 August 2022 Italy Great Britain Ukraine
37 2024 Belgrade Serbia 74 10–23 June 2024 Hungary Spain Greece
38 2026 Paris France 31 July–16 August 2026

Medal tables (1926–2024)

Updated after the 2024 European Aquatics Championships.

Overall

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russia19711687400
2 Germany175166135476
3 East Germany14311568326
4 Hungary13411691341
5 Italy130160205495
6 Great Britain114120141375
7 Soviet Union978779263
8 France9410197292
9 Netherlands909892280
10 Sweden707875223
11 Ukraine697370212
12 West Germany413349123
13 Spain386251151
14 Denmark30243488
15 Poland22262977
16 Austria17202360
17 Romania14263272
18 Greece13212862
19 Finland1391234
20 Israel761225
21 Czech Republic721726
22 Norway69520
23 Belgium671730
24 Switzerland5132139
25 Belarus5101732
26 Ireland57214
27 Serbia5128
28 Lithuania461121
29 Slovakia311418
30 Bulgaria34916
31 Yugoslavia2141329
32 Croatia27716
33 Czechoslovakia251118
34 Slovenia251017
35 Turkey2158
36 Portugal1157
37 Bosnia and Herzegovina1113
38 Estonia1102
39 Faroe Islands0303
40 Iceland0213
41 Yugoslavia0101
42 Armenia0011
Totals (42 entries)1,5701,5681,5694,707

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 2024, 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 (1926–2024)

Source:[2]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 East Germany13210055287
2 Hungary1149775286
3 Germany948973256
4 Russia795746182
5 Italy7690108274
6 Great Britain7392113278
7 France706463197
8 Netherlands658275222
9 Sweden625866186
10 Soviet Union615552168
11 Ukraine35312591
12 West Germany352742104
13 Denmark28243082
14 Spain23262877
15 Poland21252773
16 Romania13253270
17 Greece11142045
18 Finland117826
19 Austria9101130
20 Israel76922
21 Norway68519
22 Belgium671427
23 Czech Republic621119
24 Belarus571022
25 Ireland57113
26 Serbia5117
27 Switzerland481123
28 Lithuania461121
29 Slovakia311216
30 Croatia27716
31 Slovenia251017
32 Bulgaria23712
33 Turkey2158
34 Yugoslavia17917
35 Czechoslovakia13913
36 Portugal1146
37 Bosnia and Herzegovina1113
38 Estonia1102
39 Faroe Islands0303
40 Iceland0213
Totals (40 entries)1,0761,0701,0773,223

Diving (1926–2024)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Germany595646161
2 Russia534333129
3 Soviet Union27262477
4 Great Britain27222271
5 Italy24252877
6 Ukraine18223474
7 East Germany11141338
8 France961126
9 Sweden817934
10 Austria56516
11 Spain47415
12 West Germany4329
13 Netherlands4127
14 Finland2248
15 Denmark2046
16 Hungary15713
17 Czechoslovakia1124
Poland1124
19 Bulgaria1102
20 Belarus0257
21 Switzerland0202
22 Norway0101
23 Armenia0011
Ireland0011
Totals (24 entries)261263259783

Artistic swimming (1974–2024)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russia533056
2 Ukraine15191145
3 Great Britain135624
4 Spain11241247
5 France919937
6 Italy4223763
7 Soviet Union4318
8 Netherlands36817
9 Austria34613
10 Greece15612
11 Germany1203
12 West Germany0336
13 Switzerland01910
14 Belarus0123
15 Israel0033
16 Slovakia0022
17 Hungary0011
Serbia0011
Totals (18 entries)117117117351

Open water swimming (1991–2024)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Italy21232569
2 Germany20161450
3 Netherlands138425
4 Russia1211730
5 Hungary76619
6 France6111229
7 Greece1225
8 Switzerland1214
9 Great Britain1102
10 Czech Republic1067
11 Ukraine1001
12 Spain0459
13 Czechoslovakia0101
14 Bulgaria0022
15 Portugal0011
Totals (15 entries)848585254

High diving (2022)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Romania1102
2 Germany1001
3 Ukraine0101
4 Italy0022
Totals (4 entries)2226

Water polo (1926–1997)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Hungary128222
2 Soviet Union53210
3 Netherlands5139
4 Italy50510
5 West Germany2024
6 Yugoslavia17412
7 Germany0325
8 Sweden0303
9 Russia0213
10 France0123
Spain0123
12 East Germany0101
 Yugoslavia0101
14 Belgium0033
15 Austria0011
Totals (15 entries)30312990

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.[3][4]

  Still active

Men

# Swimmer Country Total
1 Alexander Popov Soviet Union
Russia
21 3 2 26
2 Adam Peaty Great Britain 16 0 0 16
3 László Cseh Hungary 14 4 5 23
4 Michael Gross West Germany 13 4 2 19
5 Pieter van den Hoogenband Netherlands 10 5 4 19
6 Emiliano Brembilla Italy 10 3 0 13
7 Filippo Magnini Italy 9 5 5 19
8 Peter Nocke West Germany 9 1 0 10
9 Kristóf Milák Hungary 8 2 0 10
10 Tamás Darnyi Hungary 8 0 0 8
11 Duncan Scott Great Britain 7 4 0 11
12 Oleh Lisohor Ukraine 7 3 3 13
13 James Guy Great Britain 7 2 3 12

Women

# Swimmer Country Total
1 Franziska van Almsick Germany 18 3 0 21
2 Sarah Sjöström Sweden 17 7 4 28
3 Katinka Hosszú Hungary 15 6 4 25
4 Heike Friedrich East Germany
Germany
11 2 0 13
5 Therese Alshammar Sweden 10 7 4 21
6 Fran Halsall Great Britain 10 3 4 17
7 Yana Klochkova Ukraine 10 2 4 16
8 Sandra Völker Germany 9 4 4 17
9 Krisztina Egerszegi Hungary 9 4 0 13
9 Astrid Strauss East Germany 9 4 0 13
11 Freya Anderson Great Britain 9 3 4 16
12 Laure Manaudou France 9 1 3 13
13 Kristin Otto East Germany 9 1 1 11
14 Ute Geweniger East Germany 9 1 0 10
15 Simona Quadarella Italy 8 1 1 10
16 Federica Pellegrini Italy 7 6 7 20
17 Yuliya Yefimova Russia 7 4 2 13
18 Mette Jacobsen Denmark 7 3 8 18
19 Daniela Hunger East Germany
Germany
7 3 0 10
20 Boglárka Kapás Hungary 7 2 4 13
20 Ágnes Kovács Hungary 7 2 4 13
22 Lucy Hope Great Britain 7 2 0 9
22 Britta Steffen Germany 7 2 0 9

Championships records

See also

References

  1. ^ Part of the European Championships.
  1. ^ European Championships, 17 April 2011
  2. ^ "LEN European Championships aquatic finalists - All time medals tables" (PDF). len.eu. p. 203. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  3. ^ "EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS AQUATIC FINALISTS 1926 – 2016 – by Kelvin Juba" (PDF). len.eu. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Female swimmer with the most medals in the history of Euro Aquatics Championships". Swimming Stats. Retrieved 23 May 2021.