On July 20, 2026, La Poste (the French postal service) will issue a stamp commemorating the 2026 European Swimming Championships, to be held in Paris and Saint-Denis, two years after the historic momentum of the 2024 Games.
In the heart of summer, from July 31 to August 16, 2026, Paris and Saint-Denis will once again resonate with the energy of aquatic sports. Two years after the historic momentum of the 2024 Games, male and female athletes will gather in France to celebrate the centenary of the creation of the European Swimming Championships.
Founded in Budapest in 1926 with just nine men's events, this biennial event has become the pinnacle of European swimming. For this 38th edition, a thousand athletes from fifty federations will compete in five major disciplines, showcasing both technical and artistic prowess.
Competitive swimming, the premier sport, championed by its French prodigy and four-time Olympic champion Léon Marchand, will electrify the Saint-Denis Aquatic Center, built for the Paris Games. In a 50-meter pool, athletes will compete in four strokes (backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle), with the stopwatch as the sole judge.
This quest for speed will be countered by the demanding discipline of diving. A spectacular discipline where the precision of the movement is measured by the splash upon entry into the water. The judges' score is decisive, as in artistic swimming where the aquatic choreography and ecstatic smiles mask a demanding effort.
Of course, the Seine will also be part of the festivities. Open water swimming specialists will brave the currents over distances ranging from 3 to 10 kilometers, while high divers will launch themselves from a dizzying 20-meter-high platform.
The diversity of disciplines, sporting performances, and urban events evoke the exhilarating mix of summer 2024. 100,000 spectators are expected to attend the competition. Whether passionate fans or simply curious, they will be swept up in the excitement.
