Samorin 2025: GB top medals table after four golds on rain-interrupted final session at EA Junior Swimming Championships

Four titles in a rain-interrupted final session at the European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships confirmed Great Britain’s position at the top of medals table, with Filip Nowacki bringing his personal total of golds to four.

Elsewhere Italy earned its fifth medal, and second gold, in relay racing with victory in the women’s 4x100m medley.

There were successful defences by Romania’s Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu in the women’s 100m backstroke and Lithuania’s Smilte Plytnykaite in the women’s 100m breaststroke.

And Ireland’s John Shortt, a disappointed bronze medallist in his defence of the men’s 200m backstroke, was an exuberant winner of the men’s 100m backstroke title.

Britain finished with a total of 19 medals, including nine golds, with Italy and Spain second and third respectively with totals of 14 each.

The warm, sometimes oppressively hot conditions in which racing at the outdoor pool in Slovakia’s Olympic Training Centre has taken place broke into thunder and lightning with the final four events still to come.

But after a halt of around half an hour for safety reasons – during which our MC went into hyperdrive to organise group singing in the stands – the excitement levels were not dampened by the time competition resumed.

Seventh overall at last year’s Championships in Vilnius, Great Britain were a force of a different power here, and they got straight onto the gold standard.

Fifteen-year-old Amalie Smith, winner of the women’s 400m individual medley on day one, completed the double with victory in the women’s 200m medley in 2:12.62, from Germany’s Noelle Benkler on 2:12.76, with bronze going to Ireland’s Grace Davison in 2:14.05.

Smith, who had appeared momentarily dazed after her opening day win, told European Aquatics: “I was quite surprised as well today. It’s been great week of racing for me. The back end of my race is always one of my strong points so I knew I had that in reserve.”

Nowacki, who had earned the men’s 200m breaststroke gold in a Championship and European junior record of 2:08.32 shortly before helping Britain win gold in the mixed 4x100m medley, had a similar day today.

The 17-year-old Millfield School pupil began by securing the men’s 100m breaststroke title in a personal best of 59.59 – which comfortably bettered the British junior record of 58.92 set in 2013 by the Briton who currently holds the world record of 56.88, multiple world and Olympic champion Adam Peaty.

Greece’s defending champion Evangelos Ntoumas was second in 1:00.18 with bronze in 1:00.24 going to Turkiye’s Nusrat Allahverdi, who beat Nowacki to 50m breaststroke gold.

Nowacki then played a key part in helping Britain win the final race of the Championships, the men’s 4x100m medley, in 3:38.09 from Greece in 3:38.96 and Spain in 3:39.18.

“I was in great shape coming into these Championships and I’m tremendously happy about what I’ve been able to achieve here,” Nowacki said.

Reflecting on the British junior record, he added: “Adam is a massive name in the sport of swimming, so to beat one of his records feels amazing.”

Also contributing to that relay victory was another Brit who had earned individual gold earlier, Dean Fearn, who had claimed the men’s 50m butterfly title in a Championship record of 23.29, with silver going to Jan Foltyn of the Czech Republic and Serbia’s Nemanja Mksic earning bronze in 23.78.

“To finish with 19 medals, that’s unreal,” Fearn said. “I’m really proud of the boys for their performance in the relay –  what a great night, what a great competition.”

Shortt won 100m backstroke gold in 54.09 from neutral athlete Georgii Iakovlev on 54.47 and France’s Nathan Muratory on 54.75.

Silisteanu retained her women’s 100m backstroke title in 1:00.40, with silver going to France’s Jeanne Lechevalier in 1:00.52 and Britain’s 50m backstroke champion Blythe Kinsman taking bronze in 1:00.70.

She commented: “The last year was – ‘Yes, OK. I win.’ But I feel even happier about winning this title again this year because I have trained so hard and I wanted to do my best and I have done that. I tried to swim very fast from the first moment and it worked.”

Plytnykaite held onto the women’s 100m breaststroke title in dominant fashion as she clocked 1:07.21 to finish comfortably clear of Germany’s 200m breaststroke champion Lena Ludwig on 1:08.10 and Britain’s Theodora Taylor on 1:08.47.

The Lithuanian’s success came directly after her 16-year-old team-mate Tajus Juska, double gold medallist on Friday night, had narrowly failed to retain his men’s 100m freestyle title after finishing in 48.57 behind Spain’s Luca Hoek de Guenedal on 48.25, with bronze going to Serbia’s Justin Cvetkov on 49.03.

“I’m very happy,” said Hoek. “I trained very hard for this and now I get some results, so it is good.” Commenting on the raucous Spanish support, he said: “I think this team is the best. Before the start when you see all the support we have and it makes a lot of difference.”

Poland’s first gold of these Championships was delivered by a delighted Flawia Kamzol, who clocked 26.17 to finish ahead of the Danish double gold medallist who was joint winner of this title in 2024, Martine Damborg, with the latter taking silver in 26.25 ahead of neutral athlete Mariia Osetrova on 26.44.

Osetrova’s fellow neutral athletes Sofia Diakova and Gregorii Vekovishchev took gold in the respective women’s and men’s 400m freestyle.

Diakova, the women’s 800m champion, did the double in 4:07.06 ahead of another neutral athlete, Kseniia Misharina, who clocked 4:07.52, and Italy’s Emma Giannelli, who recorded 4:09.05.

Vekovishchev won in 3:48.71 from Germany’s Johannes Liebmann on 3:49.07 and Turkey’s Kuzey Tuncelli, who earlier retained his men’s 800m and 1500m titles, on 3:49.50.

Italy won the women’s 4x100m medley gold in 4:04.30 from Germany on 4:04.34 and Lithuania on 4:05.22.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics

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