Paris 2026 European Championships

Day 6 Heats: Where Teens & 30-Somethings Make Good Company

European Championships, Paris, Day 6 heats: there's an age thing running through it ... and a Karmic outcome or two in the mix...

by Craig Lord

published August 15, 2026

The penultimate session of prelims is underway here at the 38th European Championships in Paris. It's another balmy day out there in France, emergency workers up round the clock trying to keep wildfires under control ... as life goes on in the cool of the pool.

The racing here is indoors, the warm-up pool outside beyond a giant marquee at the back of the venue. It's a fine environment and facility for these championships, France doing themselves proud once more two years after a great Olympics here in the nation's capital.

In this file:

a gallery of stunning photos from Patrick B. Kraemer
recap of day 5 finals and semis
qualifiers for action this evening in semis and finals

Swimming is a sport in flux, the spectrum of world-class athletes from 15 to 30-something ever more visible, not least of all because the folk who would have been referred to as 'veterans' of their sport not all that long ago are, in fact, bringing maturity and experience to the blocks, winning, and even swimming faster that they ever have.

For the likes of Therese Alshammar, the Swedish sprinter who moved up the pool like she was travelling through a wind tunnel, spray flying from the tips of her wings, it's nothing knew. She made the point 20 years and more ago, and her great career gave way to another, that of Sarah Sjöström, 33 on Monday and a mum racing inside 24sec in the semis of the 50 free last night.

Yes, there's Adam Ramsay-Peaty and he's struggling with a shift that's thrown many balls in the air all at once. Don't panic Mr. Peaty, says his age peer and Britain teammate from boys to married men: all will be well. Not every day you get to report this kind of stuff, for example:

Here's what Scott was up to this morning, having to make sure he finished in the top 2 of 4 Brits in heats of the 200IM. A 30-something in May next year, he looked very smooth as fastest qualifier in 1:57.51, a teen who still be a teen in May next year closest, 33-year-old Max Litchfield taking the second berth for Britain in.semis, which will include Hubert Kós, the Hungarian teammate of (medley) absent Léon Marchand out to uphold Longhorn pride in the final in the curtain-closing session of the championship tomorrow, his withdrawal from the 100m backstroke pinning Bob Bowman's colours to that particular mast:

So take heart whatever your age may be: nothing is over, til its over, and there'll be many more thrills and spills ahead on the way to LA2028 - and beyond that to Brisbane 2032, as the sport changes shape, important in that process the voices of the Cam McEvoys, Sjöstroms, Scotts, Guys and other doleritic forces here to stay when naysayers (in waves in UK today when it comes to folk dishing out advice to Ramsay-Peaty as though they know best, or even know at all what the issues are and how to go about resolving them) think they should have let the grass grow beneath their feet at their age...

On the same theme, day 6 heats have a teenager, Ukraine's Nikita Sheremet, going through to 50 free sims at the top of the heap on 21.56, Ralf Tribuntsov, of Estonia, the 30-something getting beyond the first round. Similar with the women's 200 'fly: four teens and a 30-something through to semis. In the men's 100 back, one of each; and ion the women's 50 breaststroke, eight swimmers who will all be 30-something by the time LA2028 stages the first dash stroke finals beyond freestyle in Olympic waters, one of them, Ruta Meilutyte, 15 back in London 2012 when she lifted the 100m breaststroke crown.

The rest of morning's rolling file, updates at the end of each passing event, below the recap of last night's finals and semis.