2026 European Championships: Women's Swammy Awards

The 2026 European Championships have come to a close, and the top swimmers have been recognized with the Swammy Awards. Simona Quadarella of Italy took home the Swimmer of the Meet award, while Maya Werner of Germany was named Breakout Swimmer of the Meet. Amalie Smith of Great Britain was honored as Junior Swimmer of the Meet.

Swimmers at the 2026 European Championships have been recognized for their outstanding performances with the Swammy Awards.

Swimmer of the Meet: Simona Quadarella

Simona Quadarella of Italy was the standout swimmer of the meet, earning three gold medals in the distance freestyle events. She now holds the fourth-most gold medals in European Championships history with 11, and is tied as the fourth-most-decorated female swimmer in the competition's history.

Quadarella's impressive performances included breaking the Championship record in the 1500 free with a time of 15:46.22, and hacking four seconds off the record in the 800 free with an 8:15.55. She also set a new personal best in the 400 free, dropping the hammer with a 59.59 final 100 to go from half a second down on Isabel Gose to nearly a second ahead at the finish.

Breakout Swimmer of the Meet: Maya Werner

Maya Werner of Germany made a name for herself at the 2026 European Championships, swimming three huge lifetime bests to come away with three bronze medals. She had a good meet at the European Short Course Championships in December, winning silver in the 1500 free and bronze in the 800 free, but this was an even better one.

Werner's impressive performances included a 24 second PB of 15:52.50 in the 1500 free, where she stuck with European record holder Simona Quadarella and 2024 World Championships medalist Isabel Gose through most of the race. She also hacked a couple of seconds off her best in the 400 free with a time of 4:03.73.

Junior Swimmer of the Meet: Amalie Smith

Amalie Smith of Great Britain was the only junior to win an individual medal in Paris, claiming silver in the 400 IM in 4:35.12 for her second-fastest swim ever. She was a finalist in the 200 IM, finishing 5th in 2:10.65, and swam in prelims for Great Britain's 4×200 free relay which won gold.

Smith already owned the European junior record in the 400 IM with the 4:33.70 she swam at the Commonwealth Games, where she also won silver, but now owns five of the six fastest junior swims in European history.

Honorable Mentions

• Marrit Steenbergen (NED) was levels above the field in the 100 free, breaking the Championship record in all three rounds and notching yet another 51-point swim, her fifth ever, with a 51.90 in the final.
• Sara Curtis (ITA) set a world record in the 50 back, broke 24 seconds in the 50 free, posted the 26th-fastest 100 free split of all time, and then broke the Italian record in the 100 back twice on the final day, hacking two seconds off her best.
• Ellen Walshe (IRL) backed up her fantastic performances at the European Short Course Championships with her first long course medals, and nothing other than gold would do. She set new Irish records in both the IM events as she used a fantastic freestyle leg to come from behind and win gold both times, and then added two more Irish records in the final day in the 200 fly and 4×100 medley relay.
• Angharad Evans (GBR) won just one European title this week, but was so good on the women's medley relay that it almost feels criminal to leave her off this list. Gold in the 100 breast in a new British record of 1:04.87 was a huge moment for her, as she delivered the finals swim she has been promising for the last 24 months, and she added silver in the 200 breast after a fantastic battle with Evgeniia Chikunova.

Source: SwimSwam