2026 European Swimming Championships: Italy Wins Silver in the 4×1500 Mixed Relay; Stunning Legs by Ginevra Taddeucci and Gregorio Paltrinieri
Italy’s medal tally at the 2026 European Swimming Championships currently underway in Paris has grown further: the 4×1500 mixed relay team won the silver medal, finishing just two seconds shy of what would have been an incredible come-from-behind gold. Nevertheless, there was great satisfaction for Barbara Pozzobon, Ginevra Taddeucci, Marcello Guidi, and Gregorio Paltrinieri, who took their places on the continental podium, securing another medal for the national open-water swimming team.
The gold medal went to Germany, which—after a somewhat disappointing first leg (Julia Ackerman finished her 1,500 meters in sixth place, 35 seconds behind the leader)—staged a decisive comeback with Isabel Gose, Oliver Klemet, and Florian Wellbrock. The Italian team, on the other hand, started with Pozzobon, who finished second at the end of his leg, then surged ahead of the pack with Taddeucci, lost a bit of momentum during Guidi’s 1,500-meter leg, and went all out with Paltrinieri, who came very close to gold after a great comeback.
The bronze medal went to Hungary, which remained among the leaders throughout the race with Bettina Fabian, Viktoria Mihalyvari Farkas, Kristof Rasovszky, and David Betlehem—the latter overtaken by Paltrinieri in the very final stages of the race. The other participating teams trailed far behind: France, which finished fourth, arrived two minutes behind, followed by the Russian team competing under a neutral flag, Turkey, and Slovakia. The Czech Republic was not ranked, having been disqualified after the second leg.
The open-water swimming program thus concludes with two golds, one silver, and four bronzes for Italy: Taddeucci won both the women’s 5 km and 10 km events, also claiming bronze in the 3 km elimination race. Also taking the lowest step on the podium were Barbara Pozzobon in the 5 km, Linda Caponi in the 10 km, and Gregorio Paltrinieri in the men’s 5 km, prior to today’s medal win by the relay team.
