Masters swimmers make their mark as European Short Course Championships come to a close
The European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships Masters Lublin 2025 offered a vivid reminder of what Masters swimming represents at its very best: elite-level performances, record-breaking swims and deeply human stories unfolding side by side. Across five days of competition in Poland, swimmers from a wide range of age groups and backgrounds filled the pool with racing that was as meaningful as it was fast.
From a performance standpoint, the championships were defined by exceptional quality at the top end of the results. The most outstanding male swim of the meet came from Poland’s Paweł Korzeniowski of 5Styl Sharks, whose blistering 52.38 in the 100m butterfly earned 1,069 AQUA Masters points – the highest single score recorded at the championships.
The former professional athlete, now competing on the Masters circuit, backed that up with further strong performances, as the usually busy calendar for a number of athletes was coupled with a number of opportunities for friends old and new to unite for what always proves to be a friendly celebration of sport.
On the women’s side, Katarzyna Wasick delivered a series of performances that stood out in a particularly impressive women’s field. Representing AZS AWF Katowice, Wasick topped the women’s points rankings with a stunning 100m freestyle swim of 52.76, scoring 1,117 points – the highest individual score of the meet across both genders.
She followed that with equally impressive efforts in the 50m freestyle (23.68, 1,080 points) and the 200m freestyle (1:58.30, 1,062 points), completing a dominant freestyle treble that included World and European Masters records.
Behind the headline names, the depth of quality was striking. Andrejs Duda produced multiple high-scoring swims, including a 56.36 in the 100m individual medley for 1,023 points and a 23.74 in the 50m butterfly worth 1,020 points, while Italy’s Marc La Palme broke the 1,000-point barrier with his 100m butterfly and added further strong medley performances. These results reinforced the technical standard of racing on show throughout the week.
At club level, 5Styl Sharks emerged as one of the defining presences of the championships. With Korzeniowski delivering the top men’s performance of the meet and the club featuring prominently across individual and relay events, their impact was felt consistently across the results sheets, marking them out as one of Lublin’s most successful and influential teams.
Whilst the stopwatch told one story, the broader narrative of Lublin 2025 was shaped just as powerfully by the lives behind the lane ropes. Jenny Wachsmuth’s return to European Masters competition after a decade away encapsulated that spirit. Racing for USV TU Dresden, she claimed gold in the women’s 200m freestyle and set championship records across distance freestyle events, as she returned to the pool while raising a young child.
Stories of return and renewal were a recurring theme. Rosie Rogers showed that Masters swimming can fit around life’s biggest changes, racing competitively just months after giving birth earlier this year. Elsewhere, one Romanian competitor captured the ethos of the championships by returning to swimming after a 20-year absence when his son took up the sport, as he chose not simply to watch from poolside, but to train and race alongside him.
Equally compelling were the performances from the older age groups, which provided some of the most powerful moments of the week. Swimmers in their seventies, eighties and beyond not only collected medals but also set championship records, offering living proof of the long-term physical and social benefits of remaining active in the water. Names such as Conny Boer-Buijs once again appeared among the record-holders, reinforcing the message that competitive swimming truly can be a lifelong pursuit.
By the time the final sessions concluded, Lublin 2025 had delivered far more than a list of results. The championships combined world-class Masters performances, a high standard of competition across all age groups and a powerful collection of personal journeys that illustrated why Masters swimming continues to grow across Europe.
With the European Aquatics Masters Championships 2026 on the horizon next summer, the thousands of athletes who took part in the competition last week will be full of cinfidence that they can go on and replicate their performances on the long course stage.
Click here for the full results.
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
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