Great Britain tops the medal table in Paris as Keanna MacInnes claims double gold on closing night
Great Britain finished top of the medals table at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, edging Italy by a single gold — 14 to 13 — to close the eight-day meet on Sunday 16 August 2026 BBC Sport.
The headline of the final night belonged to Keanna MacInnes. The 24-year-old won two golds inside 75 minutes, starting with the women's 200m butterfly in a Scottish record of 2:05.90. That made her the first British woman to win the European 200m butterfly title Swimming World Magazine. She then returned to the pool deck to swim the butterfly leg of the women's 4x100m medley relay, where she teamed up with backstroker Lauren Cox, breaststroker Angharad Evans and freestyler Freya Colbert. They won in a championship record of 3:53.50.
For a relay swimmer, 75 minutes between a final and another final is tight. Muscles do not fully reset in that window, and the butterfly leg — the second-fastest stroke in the medley order, swum immediately after backstroke and before breaststroke — demands the most explosive power of the four. MacInnes, who trains at the University of Stirling, made her Olympic debut in Paris two years ago, swimming a lifetime best of 57.90 in the 100m butterfly heats British Swimming.
Britain's strength ran deep across every discipline. Swimmers delivered eight golds, two silvers and four bronzes — 14 of the team's 26 total medals. The artistic swimming squad contributed four golds and a bronze, topping that sport's table outright. Diving added two golds, two silvers and three bronzes BBC Sport, with golds in the women's synchronised 10m platform and the artistic swimming mixed duet Yahoo Sports.
Angharad Evans, who swam the breaststroke leg in the record-breaking relay, had already won the individual 100m breaststroke earlier in the week. Eighteen-year-old Filip Nowacki claimed the men's 200m breaststroke on Thursday, giving Britain backstroke-to-breaststroke depth across both sexes and two generations.
Italy pushed Britain all the way with 13 golds. Germany topped the open water swimming table, with Italy and Hungary level on seven open water medals each European Aquatics. But across the pool, the boards and the artistic swimming arena, Britain's spread proved decisive. One gold separated first from second. That is the width of a fingertip at the wall — and enough to settle an entire championship.
