Stari Grad 2025: Five things to know about the European Open Water Swimming Championships
With just two days to go until the athletes get underway for the European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Championships Stari Grad 2025, we take a look back at five things that makes this edition – and all other editions of the competition – so special.
1. A Historic Return: Stari Grad, Croatia, is hosting the championships from May 28 to 31 2025, marking 36 years since it first hosted the inaugural event in 1989. The Adriatic waters of Stari Grad Bay provide an ideal setting for open water swimming, and those in attendance will experience a similar atmosphere to the one that those present that year were treated to.
The competition was also held in Croatia in 2008, when Dubrovnik hosted the event in the aftermath of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
2. New Event Format: The introduction of the 3k knockout race is a major change, replacing the traditional 25km event. This format consists of three segments (1500m, 1000m, 500m), with eliminations at each stage. The event was first tested in the Open Water World Cup – to much excitement and support – and has now been incorporated into the European Championships.
Returning to the calendar is the ever-present 5km and 10km events for both men and women, and the mixed relay event – which will round-off procedings on the fourth and final day of action.
3. Top Contenders Hungary’s 2024 Olympic champion Kristof Rasovszky will compete in multiple events, including the 5k, 10k, mixed relay, and the new 3k knockout race. Other elite swimmers include Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, Rasovszky’s team-mate David Betlehem, and Marc-Antoine Olivier of France, all of whom have dominated recent international competitions.
On the women’s side, a whole host of Europe’s finest open water swimmers will line up across their four events – including Hungary’s double world medallist Bettina Fabian, Italy’s Olympic bronze medallist from Paris Ginevra Taddeucci, and Germany’s Lea Boy – who has taken a hat-trick of world and European medals throughout her career.
4. A long-line of famous hosts:The 2025 edition of the Championships will be the 21st edition, and the eighth stand-alone competition. In even years, the discipline usually links up with European Aquatics to form part of the European Aquatics Championships – as was the case in 2024 in Belgrade and will be the case for Paris in 2026.
A strong-list of hosts have welcomed the athletes to their waters since 1989, including the UK, Italy, Spain and Germany.
5. Italy and Germany set to renew rivalry: Since the competition’s inception Italy and Germany have been far-and-away the most successful teams, with the Italians just edging ahead. With Stari Grad set to provide up to 21 medals for athletes, there could yet be a changing of the guard.
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
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