Samorin 2025: Britons flourish on monumental night of racing at European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships

Nine finals on day two of the European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships produced gold medallists from eight different countries – with Great Britain claiming two titles thanks to Blythe Kinsman in the women’s 50m backstroke and 16-year-old Amelie Blocksidge in the women’s 1500m freestyle.

A raucous session at the Slovakian Olympic Training Centre’s outdoor pool, with a light breeze taking something off the 32C heat, ended with Spain underlining their new status in relay racing as they added mixed 4x100m freestyle gold to the women’s 4x100m freestyle title they had earned on day one.

Blocksidge faced a monumental challenge in defending her 1500m title and produced a monumental performance to hold off Italy’s 2024 silver medallist Emma Gianelli and the 16-year-old Hungarian who took 2024 bronze and also won the European senior title last year, Vivien Jackl.

The resolute Briton, who took silver in this event at the 2023 edition, moved into the lead after 300 metres and was never headed, finishing in 16:10.23 – exactly the same time she recorded to win this title in Vilnius last summer.

Jackl, whose hopes of winning a third consecutive 400m medley title ended in bronze the previous evening, kept closest to the Briton up to the 1,000m mark but then slipped back as Gianelli took up the challenge.

However, although the Italian narrowed the gap to 2.67 after 1150m she could not get any closer as Blocksidge powered on to her goal. The cost of her efforts became clear at the finish, where relief and recovery took precedence over jubilation before she was able to manage a thumbs-up.

“It was such a fight out there,” Blocksidge told European Aquatics. “I know that race brings out the best in me as that was my best time this season. I haven’t done a PB (personal best) in about a year and a half so that will give me a lot of confidence.

“I’ve had to adapt a little out here as I’ve never raced outdoors in a pool before but to be honest I’m really enjoying it, getting a bit of a tan and trying not to burn!

Kinsman earned her first individual European junior title with a time of 27.79.

It was a personal best for the 18-year-old student at Kelly College in Devon, who won a mixed team gold at last year’s edition of these Championships in Vilnius.

Silver went to Denmark’s 18-year-old Martine Damborg in 28.18 – replicating her performance in last year’s final – with Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu of Romania earning bronze in 28.26.

“It’s a very special medal which means so much to me after the last few years when I haven’t quite been able to achieve what I wanted so I’m really proud,” Kinsman said.

Spain were exuberant champions in the concluding relay, finishing well clear in a Championship record of 3:27.69, set up by an astonishing first-leg time of 48.14 from Luka Hoek le Guenedal.

Great Britain took silver in 3:29.06 ahead of the defending champions Italy on 3:29.37.

Hungary’s 16-year-old David Antal, bronze medallist in the men’s 200m butterfly in Vilnius last year, upgraded to gold with a killer final 50m that saw him move from the mass to finish in a personal bes of 1:57.42.

Silver went Spain’s Isak Fernandez Rodrigo in 1:58.39 after a gutsy effort from lane seven which saw him leading all the way to the 150 metres point before hanging on to claim second place by 0.01sec from Turkey’s Tuncer Erturk.

“We had practised the tactics in the heats, where we decided I just needed to stay with the others for 150m and then I would have the speed at the end to win,” Antal said.

On comparisons being made between himself and Hungary’s Olympic 200m butterfly champion Kristof Milak, he added:

“I don’t believe in legacy because I think Kristof Milak was just like me here one time with the junior record, but he is a hero to me. I think this result and the people in the crowd has really hyped me up with all the support here.”

Austria’s Christian Giefing won the men’s 200m freestyle in a towering race that was decided on the final stroke between himself,  Lithuania’s Tajus Juska and Sander Sorensen of Norway.

The Norwegian had taken a narrow lead from his Lithuanian rival in the mid-part of the race, but Giefing moved into the frame as he turned for the final 50 in second place.

Juska, who will defend the 100m freestyle title later this week, also had a grandstand finish and the three drove for home in a line as the decibel level rose.

Giefing was soon beating the water in jubilation after getting gold in a personal best of 1:46.88, with Juska silver on 1:47.03 and Sorensen taking bronze on 1:47.47.

Bianca Nannucci earned Italy’s second gold of the Championships in the women’s 200m freestyle  with a superbly judged final effort which took her from fourth to first over the final 50 metres.

Last at the halfway point, the 17-year-old Italian – who had qualified fastest from the semi-finals – powered down the final stretch to clock 1:58.41.

Close behind her was the Spaniard who had taken gold in the previous day’s women’s 4x100m freestyle, Maria Daza Garcia, who had come from even farther back, turning in fifth place and surging to silver in 1:58.97, with bronze going to neutral athlete Sofia Diakova in 1:59.09.

“I’m honestly so happy with this result and the medal is so heavy and beautiful and it’s great to have this in my hands right now,” Nannucci said.

I’m usually someone who starts really slow and catches up at the end so it can be really difficult to not go with the others as I know what I’m better at, but I’ve learned with time and doing a million of these 200m’s I know what to do!”

The men’s 50m butterfly title went to neutral athlete Georgii Iakovlev in 25.04, with fellow neutral athlete Mikhail Shcherbakov taking bronze in 25.30.

Italy’s Daniele del Signore, a gold medallist in the previous evening’s men’s 4x100m freestyle, added a silver to his collection after clocking 25.25.

The race was traumatic for Lithuania’s 17-year-old defending champion Mantas Kauspedas, who was leading in the early stages before twice losing his bearings – always a risk for backstrokers working without the guidelines of a roof – and bashing into the very solid lane lines, eventually finishing seventh.

Kauspedas’s team-mate Smilte Plytnykaite had a happier defence of her title as she stretched out her arm to claim women’s 50m breaststroke gold by a margin of three-hundredths of a second from Estonia’s Egle Salu, 31.16 to 31.19.

Bronze went to Spain’s Nayara Pineda Lopez in 31.26.

“I’m really happy because it’s my last juniors so I wanted to give it my best and I did it, so I’m very proud of myself,”  Plytnykaite said. “I just wanted to have fun and I think I did that, the result shows it.

“This year the support from Lithuania is the biggest because many of the parents came to see us so we feel that support and it really helps the team.”

Turkey’s Nusrat Allahverdi also made a successful defence in the men’s 50m breaststroke, surging ahead in the closing stages to clock 27.24, with Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki – from Millfield School – earning silver with a late, late effort in 27.61 ahead of Germany’s Jan Malte Grafe, who took bronze in 27.77.

Twenty minutes after taking silver in the women’s 5ackstroke, Damborg was called upon to defend her 100m butterfly title in the semi-finals and progressed to tomorrow’s final as second fastest in 59.25 behind Poland’s Flawia Kamzol on 59.21 and ahead of Germany’s Linda Roth on 59.42.

Her work was not done for the evening, as she still had the semi-finals of the women’s 50m freestyle to contend with.

She came through this too, qualifying for tomorrow’s final second fastest in 25.26 behind Croatia’s 2024 silver medallist Jana Pavalic on 24.93. Job done…

Romania’s defending champion Robert-Andrei Badea qualified fourth fastest for tomorrow’s men’s 200m individual medley final in 2:01.43.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics

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