European Aquatics Championships

European Aquatics Championships
Status	Active
Genre	Sporting event
Date	Mid-year
Frequency	Biennial
Country	Varying
Inaugurated	1926 (1926)
Most recent	Paris 2026
Previous event	Belgrade 2024
Next event	2028

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.

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	USSR	East Germany
9	1958	Budapest	Hungary	20	31 August – 6 September 1958	USSR	Great Britain	Netherlands
10	1962	Leipzig	East Germany	23	18–25 August 1962	Netherlands	East Germany	USSR
11	1966	Utrecht	Netherlands	23	20–27 August 1966	USSR	East Germany	Netherlands
12	1970	Barcelona	Spain	34	5–13 September 1970	East Germany	USSR	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	USSR	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	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	76	31 July–16 August 2026	Great Britain	Italy	Neutral Athletes B

Medal tables (1926–2026)

Updated after the 2026 European Aquatics Championships.

Overall

Source:

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	197	116	87	400
2	Germany	184	177	147	508
3	Italy	143	175	220	538
4	East Germany	143	115	68	326
5	Hungary	139	125	94	358
6	Great Britain	128	124	149	401
7	France	98	107	102	307
8	Soviet Union	97	87	79	263
9	Netherlands	92	105	93	290
10	Ukraine	72	74	73	219
11	Sweden	71	79	76	226
12	West Germany	41	33	49	123
13	Spain	39	68	55	162
14	Denmark	30	25	34	89
15	Poland	23	26	30	79
16	Romania	17	26	32	75
17	Austria	17	20	24	61
18	Greece	16	22	29	67
19	Finland	13	9	12	34
20	Neutral Athletes B	10	9	13	32
21	Czech Republic	9	2	17	28
22	Belgium	7	8	18	33
23	Ireland	7	8	4	19
24	Israel	7	6	12	25
25	Norway	6	9	5	20
26	Switzerland	5	14	22	41
27	Belarus	5	10	17	32
28	Lithuania	5	7	11	23
29	Serbia	5	2	2	9
30	Slovakia	3	11	4	18
31	Bulgaria	3	4	9	16
32	Yugoslavia	2	14	13	29
33	Croatia	2	7	8	17
34	Czechoslovakia	2	5	11	18
35	Slovenia	2	5	10	17
36	Turkey	2	1	5	8
37	Portugal	1	2	5	8
38	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	1	1	3
	Neutral Athletes A	1	1	1	3
40	Estonia	1	1	0	2
41	Faroe Islands	0	3	0	3
42	Iceland	0	2	1	3
43	FR Yugoslavia	0	1	0	1
44	Armenia	0	0	1	1
Totals (44 entries)		1,646	1,646	1,643	4,935

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:

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	East Germany	132	100	55	287
2	Hungary	118	101	77	296
3	Germany	96	95	79	270
4	Italy	82	98	114	294
5	Great Britain	81	94	117	292
6	Russia	79	57	46	182
7	France	74	68	66	208
8	Netherlands	67	89	75	231
9	Sweden	63	59	67	189
10	Soviet Union	61	55	52	168
11	Ukraine	36	31	25	92
12	West Germany	35	27	42	104
13	Denmark	28	25	30	83
14	Spain	23	27	29	79
15	Poland	22	25	28	75
16	Romania	15	25	32	72
17	Greece	12	15	21	48
18	Finland	11	7	8	26
19	Austria	9	10	12	31
20	Czech Republic	8	2	11	21
21	Belgium	7	8	15	30
22	Ireland	7	8	3	18
23	Israel	7	6	9	22
24	Norway	6	8	5	19
25	Lithuania	5	7	11	23
26	Belarus	5	7	10	22
27	Neutral Athletes B	5	5	9	19
28	Serbia	5	2	1	8
29	Switzerland	4	8	12	24
30	Slovakia	3	11	2	16
31	Croatia	2	7	8	17
32	Slovenia	2	5	10	17
33	Bulgaria	2	3	7	12
34	Turkey	2	1	5	8
35	Yugoslavia	1	7	9	17
36	Czechoslovakia	1	3	9	13
37	Portugal	1	2	4	7
38	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	1	1	3
39	Estonia	1	1	0	2
40	Faroe Islands	0	3	0	3
41	Iceland	0	2	1	3
42	Neutral Athletes A	0	0	1	1
Totals (42 entries)		1,119	1,115	1,118	3,352

Diving (1926–2026)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany	62	60	49	171
2	Russia	53	43	33	129
3	Italy	29	26	29	84
4	Great Britain	29	24	25	78
5	Soviet Union	27	26	24	77
6	Ukraine	19	23	37	79
7	East Germany	11	14	13	38
8	France	9	7	11	27
9	Sweden	8	17	9	34
10	Austria	5	6	5	16
11	Spain	4	7	5	16
12	West Germany	4	3	2	9
13	Netherlands	4	1	3	8
14	Finland	2	2	4	8
15	Denmark	2	0	4	6
16	Hungary	1	5	7	13
17	Czechoslovakia	1	1	2	4
	Poland	1	1	2	4
19	Bulgaria	1	1	0	2
20	Switzerland	0	3	0	3
21	Belarus	0	2	5	7
22	Norway	0	1	0	1
23	Armenia	0	0	1	1
	Ireland	0	0	1	1
Totals (24 entries)		272	273	271	816

Artistic swimming (1974–2026)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	53	3	0	56
2	Great Britain	17	5	7	29
3	Ukraine	15	19	11	45
4	Spain	12	29	14	55
5	France	9	19	9	37
6	Italy	4	25	41	70
7	Soviet Union	4	3	1	8
8	Netherlands	3	6	8	17
9	Greece	3	5	6	14
10	Austria	3	4	6	13
11	Neutral Athletes B	3	1	3	7
12	Germany	1	3	1	5
13	Neutral Athletes A	1	1	0	2
14	West Germany	0	3	3	6
15	Switzerland	0	1	9	10
16	Belarus	0	1	2	3
17	Israel	0	0	3	3
18	Slovakia	0	0	2	2
19	Hungary	0	0	1	1
	Serbia	0	0	1	1
Totals (20 entries)		128	128	128	384

Open water swimming (1991–2026)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany	24	16	15	55
2	Italy	23	24	29	76
3	Netherlands	13	8	4	25
4	Russia	12	11	7	30
5	Hungary	8	11	7	26
6	France	6	12	13	31
7	Greece	1	2	2	5
8	Switzerland	1	2	1	4
9	Great Britain	1	1	0	2
10	Czech Republic	1	0	6	7
11	Ukraine	1	0	0	1
12	Spain	0	4	5	9
13	Czechoslovakia	0	1	0	1
14	Bulgaria	0	0	2	2
15	Portugal	0	0	1	1
Totals (15 entries)		91	92	92	275

High diving (2022–2026)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Romania	2	1	0	3
2	Ukraine	1	2	0	3
3	Germany	1	0	1	2
4	Italy	0	1	2	3
5	France	0	0	1	1
Totals (5 entries)		4	4	4	12

Water polo (1926–1997)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Hungary	12	8	2	22
2	Soviet Union	5	3	2	10
3	Netherlands	5	1	3	9
4	Italy	5	0	5	10
5	West Germany	2	0	2	4
6	Yugoslavia	1	7	4	12
7	Germany	0	3	2	5
8	Sweden	0	3	0	3
9	Russia	0	2	1	3
10	France	0	1	2	3
	Spain	0	1	2	3
12	East Germany	0	1	0	1
	FR Yugoslavia	0	1	0	1
14	Belgium	0	0	3	3
15	Austria	0	0	1	1
Totals (15 entries)		30	31	29	90

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.

  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	Duncan Scott	Great Britain	8	4	0	12
10	James Guy	Great Britain	8	2	4	14
11	Kristóf Milák	Hungary	8	2	0	10
12	Tamás Darnyi	Hungary	8	0	0	8
13	Oleh Lisohor	Ukraine	7	3	3	13

Women

#	Swimmer	Country				Total
1	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	18	8	4	30
2	Franziska van Almsick	Germany	18	3	0	21
3	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	15	6	4	25
4	Freya Anderson	Great Britain	11	3	4	18
5	Heike Friedrich	East Germany Germany	11	2	0	13
6	Simona Quadarella	Italy	11	1	1	13
7	Therese Alshammar	Sweden	10	7	4	21
8	Fran Halsall	Great Britain	10	3	4	17
9	Yana Klochkova	Ukraine	10	2	4	16
10	Sandra Völker	Germany	9	4	4	17
11	Krisztina Egerszegi	Hungary	9	4	0	13
12	Astrid Strauss	East Germany	9	4	0	13
13	Laure Manaudou	France	9	1	3	13
14	Kristin Otto	East Germany	9	1	1	11
15	Ute Geweniger	East Germany	9	1	0	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

Main article: List of European Championships records in swimming

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

External links

• Official website
• Swim Rankings results
• The event at SVT's open archive (in Swedish)
• "InterSportStats". intersportstats.com. Retrieved 2026-08-11.