Munich 2026: France celebrates two audacious golds on day 4 of the EA Junior Swimming Championships

A day after two late golds prompted Italian celebrations at the EA Junior Swimming Championships Munich 2026 it was the turn of France to belt out the national anthem a couple of times in similar circumstances.

Jeanne Lechevalier and Nathan Muratory produced audacious golds in the respective women’s and men’s 200m backstroke finals, the former sharing victory with Hungary’s Fanni Kokas.

The Italian anthem did get another airing however thanks to the efforts of their mixed 4×100 medley team in the final race of day four.

Five other finals produced gold for five other nations.

Czechia’s Jan Foltyn, silver medallist in the men’s 50m breaststroke, went one better in the men’s 50m freestyle.

Turkiye’s Doruk Yogurtcuoglu regained the men’s 200m breaststroke title he earned in 2024.

Belgium’s Simon Laviolette, who won bronze here in the 200m individual medley, won gold in the 400m individual medley.

Great Britain’s Imogen Myles claimed victory in the women’s 200m breaststroke, and neutral athlete Egor Baranov finished first in the men’s 100m butterfly.

Lechevalier produced the most eye-catching performance of the day as, after turning for home in in fifth place, she managed an epic final 50m to clock the same time, 2:10.76, as Hungary’s long-time leader Fanni Roos.

Romania’s Aissia-Claudia Prisecariu earned bronze in 2:11.58.

Asked if she thought she had a chance of a medal as she turned for home, Lechevalier told European Aquatics: “I knew that I could swim very fast on the final length, but I did not think it could be gold.

Roos commented: “I could see something when I was finishing but I was just focusing on getting to the wall.”

Muratory had qualified third fastest for the men’s 200m backstroke final but brought a certainty to his race that saw him occupy the lead from start to finish before coming home in a big personal best of 1:55.88 – just shy of the 2023 Championship record of 1:55.79.

“I didn’t know I could do this time but I knew I could swim fast. After the semi-finals I knew that I could win, so I did all I could to make that happen and it was incredible.

“I will now do the Europeans in Paris – and after that I will rest!”

Britain’s Daniel Ransom finished fast to claim silver in 1:59.00, with bronze going to Poland’s Mateusz Bienkowski in 1:59.19.

Ransom’s team-mate Myles was another fast finisher as she turned for home in the women’s 200m breastroke behind the Swiss athlete who had led to that point, Kay-Lyn Lohr, before finding final energy to win in 2:26.02.

“As I turned for home I could see Kay-Lyn beside me and it really pushed me on. I just really wanted to get a medal so it was worth every second.

But I still didn’t think I had won when I touched home.

Last year I didn’t make the final so this year I just wanted to get into the final and try and get a medal.

Lohr, who took gold in the 2023 European Olympic Youth championships, earned silver in 2:26.10, with neutral athlete Victoriia Kariuk taking bronze in 2:26.17.

Foltyn had carried previous hopes of winning gold after setting a Championship record of 27.18 in the men’s 50m breaststroke, only to see Britain’s Max Morgan equal that in the semi-final before finishing ahead of him in the final.

This time round – in an event where Lithuania’s Tajus Juska was unfortunately unable to defend his title – it was the Czech swimmer who found the way to win as he touched home in 22.10.

Spain’s Luca Hoek earned a second consecutive silver in this event in 22.14, with Italy’s Cristian Tassan-Caser claiming bronze in 22.25.

“I’m very happy,” Foltyn said. “This is my first gold. I had hopes in the breaststroke but it didn’t happen. But now I am very satisfied.”

Having won the men’s 200m breaststroke title at Vilnius in 2024, Yogurtcuoglu was silver medallist last year in Samorin behind the Championship record of 2:08.32 set by Britain’s Filip Nowacki.

But he regained the title in emphatic fashion, coming home in 2:09.43 ahead of Evengelos Ntoumas of Greece on 2:11.37 and Italy’s Gabriele Garzia on 2:13.07.

“I am so proud of myself,” Yogurtcuoglu said. “This is my second gold medal. Unfortunately this is my last appearance in the European juniors.

“From now on I’m going to be on the big stage. Next month I have the European Championships in Paris and I am so excited for that.

“I have lots of friends and family coming to watch me so I am really looking forward to that.”

Laviolette had already taken bronze in the men’s 200m individual medley, but his further ambition was clear in the 400m IM as he took the lead in the opening leg and maintained it to finish comfortably clear in 4:18.69.

“The goal coming here was to try and win a medal, maybe a medal in both events, so I was very happy with what I was able to do,” Laviolette said.

Neutral athlete Denis Piataikin earned silver in 4:21.35, with Ukraine’s Anton Denysenko claiming bronze in 4:23.28.

Piataikin’s colleague Egor Baranov won the opening men’s 100m butterfly final in 52.30 from Spain’s Francesco Coelin on 52.23, with Spain’s Joaquin Pavon Soto taking bronze in 52.55.

The mixed 4x100m medley provided a barnstorming finale to another raucous and enthusiastic day of competition.

After Mikhail Shcherbakov, the 200m IM champion, had given the NA team a first-leg lead the initiative passed to the home team thanks to Louis Hoffman, only for Dean Fearn’s butterfly leg to move Great Britain into the lead.

But an inspired freestyle leg from Italy’s Alessandra Mao saw Italy home in 3:48.14 from Germany on 3:48.25 and the NA on 3:48.39.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics