5 European stars to watch at Glasgow 2018
- 30 Jul 2018
Great Britain are taking a squad of 45 swimmers to take on the best in Europe at Glasgow 2018.
The 2018 European Swimming Championships get under way next Friday, August 3, and will run for the next seven days.
The British team contains a mix of experienced senior swimmers and the best of the country's up-and-coming prospects who have shone in the junior ranks.
National Performance Director for British Swimming, Chris Spice, has already singled out Glasgow 2018 as the 'benchmark meet of the year' as he continues to plan and build towards the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
We've already featured 10 British swimmers who will be in medal contention during the championships, but what about the rest? Here, we pick five of Europe's top swimming stars to watch out for.
5 of Europe's best at the European Swimming Championships 2018
Sarah Sjöström - Sweden
Sarah Sjöström became Sweden's first ever female Olympic swimming gold medallist when she won the 100m butterfly at Rio 2016, setting a new world record of 55.48 in the process.
It is one of four long course world records currently held by Sjöström. She also has the world's fastest times in 50m butterfly (24.43), 50m freestyle (23.67) and 100m freestyle (51.71).
Sjöström has been a dominant force on the international scene for the past decade. Incredibly, she is still only 24 years old.
She won her first European gold medal in the 100m butterfly at the age of just 14 in 2008, and has won at least one gold medal at every European Championships held since then. Her current European medal tally stands at 19 - 10 golds, six silvers and three bronzes.
Sjöström is also the reigning world champion in 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly, and will be the woman to beat in this year's freestyle and butterfly events at Glasgow 2018.
Katinka Hosszu - Hungary
Known as the Iron Lady, Katinka Hosszú has lived up to her nickname by being almost impossible to break on the world stage over the past decade.
The versatile Hungarian star became a triple Olympic champion at Rio 2016, winning gold in the 100m backstroke as well as the 200m and 400m individual medley.
Her winning time of 4:26.36 in the 400m IM set a new world record, and she's also the world record holder over 200m (2:06.12), as well as being the reigning world champion over both distances.
Her record in the European Championships is quite sensational. Since 2010, she has won at least three gold medals at every championships.
Most recently at London in 2016, she claimed four gold medals in the 200m backstroke, 200m IM, 400m IM and the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Andriy Govorov - Ukraine
Andriy Govorov became the fastest butterfly swimmer in history earlier this month in an astonishing victory over 50m at the Sette Colli Trophy meet in Italy.
The Ukraine star had been knocking on the door of the 50m butterfly world record on several occasions leading up to the Sette Colli, but the near 10-year record from the super suit era was finally smashed with a time of 22.27.
Govorov, 26, is also the defending European champion in the 50m butterfly, having won gold two years ago in London. It is his only European gold but, in his current form, he's hotly tipped to win more.
Govorov is also a three-time European short course champion in the 50m butterfly. He has competed at two Olympic Games, London 2012 and Rio 2016, but has yet to win an Olympic medal.
Federica Pellegrini - Italy
Freestyle master Federica Pellegrini is aiming to win a gold medal at her sixth consecutive European Championships in Glasgow.
The Italian swimmer's astonishing run in the Europeans started back at Eindhoven in 2008 when she won gold in the 400m freestyle. Since then, she's dominated the 200m freestyle with European titles in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.
Pellegrini currently has 13 European long course medals to her name, including seven golds, two silvers and four bronzes.
At the 2009 World Championships in Italy, she set a 200m freestyle world record of 1:52.98 that still stands today, and also became the first woman to swim the 400m freestyle in under four minutes.
The 29-year-old's run in the World Championships has been equally as impressive. She's the only swimmer in history to win seven medals in a row in the same event (200m freestyle). That amazing statistic includes golds in 2009, 2011 and 2017.
Radosław Kawęcki - Poland
Backstroke specialist Radosław Kawęcki comes to Glasgow 2018 in search of his fourth European Championship crown.
The Polish swimmer has dominated the 200m backstroke over the past six years, winning gold in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
His short course form is equally impressive, having won a further six European titles and three World Championship golds.
In the 50m pool, Kawęcki has twice claimed a World Championship silver medal in the 200m backstroke, but an Olympic medal has always just eluded him. The closest he came was a fourth place finish at London 2012.
Validate your login