Jersey Boy Nowacki On The Up In Men’s 200 Breast

There have been four different men’s 200 breast champions over the last three European Championships – Erik Persson and Lyubomir Epitropov tied for gold in 2024 – and with a new kid on the block it looks likely that there will be a different one again this year.

Big Men In Town

Filip Nowacki comes in as the fastest European man since the 2024 Olympics, having clocked 2:07.32 to win World Junior gold last summer. He has not been quite as fast so far this season, but still ranks top among entrants with the 2:07.87 he clocked at the Commonwealth Games, leapfrogging the pair of Casper Corbeau and Kirill Prigoda.

Those three seem almost guaranteed to make up the podium, with Carles Coll Marti skipping the meet due to visa complications in the U.S.. The Spanish record holder is the reigning world and European champion in short course, and clocked 2:08.49.

Nowacki has raced just one senior long course meet, the recent Commonwealth Games, but he also notched a European Junior record and a 4th-place finish in the 200 breast at the European Short Course Championships in December. Despite that performance, he remains a better long course swimmer than short course swimmer and this summer could be a springboard for him.

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He comes in as comfortably Great Britain’s best swimmer in the event, and given the relative lack of depth in the field he will not have to exert himself too much through the heats and semis. He navigated all three rounds with aplomb at both European juniors and World juniors last summer, getting faster from heats to semis to the final, and did so again at the European Short Course Championships in December.

He won Commonwealth gold in 2:07.87 last week, controlling the race to win his third major long course title in a row, two junior and one senior. His maturity and composure will be a huge asset in this field.

Nowacki comes in just about as the favorite, based on his performances last summer and his form this season. The caveat is, of course, that the majority of his major finals have come against junior opposition. He has fared well at those meets, and with the fastest lifetime best he will be the one to beat.

Caspar Corbeau could throw down a big swim to top the podium however. He won silver at the 2024 World Championships, bronze at the 2024 Olympic Games and bronze again at the 2025 World Championships, but his short course performances last fall are the biggest indicator. He broke the Dutch record at the first two stops of the World Cup tour in October, before shattering the world record with a 1:59.52 at the final stop, the first swim in history under 2:00.

So far this season he has been 2:08.50, just over half a second away from his lifetime best of 2:07.73. He swam that time last summer, and has been getting better and better the more he races internationally. He won silver behind Coll Marti at the European Short Course Championships in December before withdrawing from the remainder of the meet through illness, so will be aiming to rebound with gold in Paris.

Corbeau has been the most decorated international swimmer in the last couple of years among the leading trio, and has made a habit of swimming his best in finals. That short course world record swim hints at more to come in long course – could Arno Kamminga’s Dutch record of 2:06.85 be on notice here?

BY NARDIA MULKERRINS

Kirill Prigoda has moved more towards the 50 and 100 in the last couple of years, winning silver in the 50 breast at the last world championships, but is the second-fastest European swimmer in the 200 breast so far this season thanks to the 2:08.30 he clocked at the Russian Championships at the start of June. He has a further pair of sub-2:10 performances, and was just half a second off his best to place 4th at the World Championships last summer in 2:07.99.

He is the former world record holder in the short course version of the event, clocking 2:00.16 in 2018. He probably is the slight underdog of the trio though, with a less splashy summer in the 200 last year than either of the other two.

Leon Marchand is the big question mark. He suffered a hip adductor injury in the heats of this event at the French Elite Championships, prompting him to withdraw from the remainder of the meet. While it appears he would be able to add this event to his schedule, it doesn’t seem likely that he would risk it.

He won Olympic gold in 2:05.85 two years ago in Paris, the second-fastest swim in history, but skipped the event at the World Championships last year and has seemed more focused on fly as his secondary stroke after IM. He would be a huge medal threat if he swims, but it doesn’t look like that will be happening.

Looking Up

Alexander Zhigalov was the top seed out of the heats at the 2025 World Championships, and the fifth seed into the final, but ended up disqualified in the final. He clocked 2:08.32 and 2:08.55 through the first two rounds, his fastest two swims ever, and took 4th at the World Short Course Championships in 2024.

His season best is 2:09.60 from the Russian Championships, a little slower than the 2:09.21 he posted at that meet last year, but he did drop nearly a second in the summer. A similar drop would put him squarely in the final, but he has some way to go to match those fighting for the podium. He is just 59.99 in the 100, significantly slower than his rivals for the medals.

Christian Mantegazza has been 2:10.00 this season and has a best of 2:09.39 from last June. He made the semi-finals at the World

by Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics

Championships last summer, adding just over a second, but after gaining some international experience he will be eyeing up a final in a relatively weak field here. He has swims of 2:10.03 and 2:10.00 in the last few months, and looks to be peaking at the right time.

Luka Mladenovic won European U23 gold last summer in a time of 2:10.08, and went on to win bronze at the European Short Course Championships in December. He clocked 2:10.87 at the Austrian Championships at the start of June, where he was right on his 100 PB but nearly a second off his best in the 50. He could dip under 2:10, but an appearance in the final looks like a best-case scenario.

Greg Butler swam at his first world championships last summer and made a pair of semi-finals, including finishing 9th in the 200 breast. He set a best of 2:09.60 in Singapore, which he has since lowered to 2:09.51. Another sub-2:10 swim will be required if he is to make it through to the final, but he hasn’t shown that he’ll drop down too much further.

He broke 2:10 for the first time last season, and this will be his fourth major international meet after the 2022 and 2026 Commonwealth Games and the 2025 World Championships. He has been a semi-finalist at worst at both of those, and a 2:09-mid should comfortably make the final, with a couple of those to his name already this season.

Junior Joy?

Evangelos Efraim Ntoumas didn’t swim the 200 breast at the World Junior Championships last summer after placing 11th at the European Junior Championships in 2:14.42. This year he has dropped his PB down to 2:10.76 and is coming off a silver medal at the European Junior Championships. The final might be a step too far this year, but he has dropped a ton of time this season already.

Doruk Yogurtcuoglu won silver behind Filip Nowacki at the 2025 European Junior Championships, but upgraded this summer to win gold in 2:09.43. He ranks 6th so far this season with that time, and has had additional swims of 2:09.62, 2:09.89, and 2:10.16 in recent months. He will be one coming in with strong expectations of making the final, and being on a run of good form looks likely to do so.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse – Nil Cadevall Micolau (ESP)

Micolau is not the Spanish swimmer many people would have picked to make the final, but with Carles Coll Marti not swimming it could be his compatriot who has made the move over to Florida this season. He set national records in the 50 breast and 100 breast at Spanish Trials in June, but was half a second off his best in the 200 in 2:11.39, off the 2:10.92 he clocked 12 months prior. If he can carry his form in the sprints into this event, he could sneak into the final.