There was never any doubt that Russia’s Evgeny Rylov would win the European title in the men’s 200 back, and he did not disappoint. The World Champion in the event last year, Rylov put up a time of 1:53.36, improving upon his own European record of 1:53.61 from 2017.
Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki picked up a silver medal as he touched in 1:56.07. Kawecki had won the previous three European titles in the event. The bronze medal went to Italy’s Matteo Restivo in 1:56.29.
Germany’s Christian Diener took fourth in 1:57.05, just ahead of Greece’s Apostolos Christou (1:57.09). The other finalists included Russia’s Grigory Tarasevich (1:57.37), Italy’s Luca Mencarini (1:57.71) and Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez (1:59.09).
Notably, the final was missing Kliment Kolesnikov, who owns the world junior record at 1:55.14. That time would have been good enough for silver, but Kolesnikov was the third-fastest Russian in prelims, behind Rylov and Tarasevich, locking him out of the semi-finals.
