The 2026 European Swimming Championships women's 4x100m medley relay final was a thrilling display of swimming prowess, with Great Britain claiming the gold medal. The race saw three of the fastest splits in history on the breaststroke leg, with Angharad Evans, Benedetta Pilato, and Mona McSharry all ranking in the top ten performers in history. Evans took the top spot with a split of 1:03.75, just the second ever split under 1:04. Pilato, swimming for Italy, split a 1:04.53, ranking her 6th-fastest in history, and maintained Italy’s lead over Great Britain. McSharry, swimming for Ireland, pulled her team from 7th to 4th on her leg with a split of 1:04.72, and was 0.69 seconds faster than her flat start best and Irish record of 1:05.41.
Neutral Athletes B were some way off the action out in front at halfway, but that was soon resolved thanks to a huge 55.65 split from Daria Klepikova, three tenths faster than her previous best split of 55.95 and 1.73 seconds faster than she had been on the mixed medley relay. She was over a second faster than the 56.76 she swam for bronze in the individual 100 fly, and closed the gap to the leaders from over a second to just 0.21 seconds over her leg.
Great Britain, Italy, and NAB showed a fantastic race on the final leg, with no one breaking 53 seconds on the anchor. Emma Virginia Menicucci extended the lead over Great Britain to half a second with 50 to go, but Freya Colbert had the best closing speed with a 53.27 split, three quarters of a second under her PB of 54.02, to take the win by a tenth of a second. Menicucci was just under her flat start best of 53.75, while Kira Manokhina had her slowest split of the week after a pair of 53.0s on the mixed medley and mixed free relays.
In conclusion, the women's 4x100m medley relay final was a showcase of exceptional swimming talent, with Great Britain's victory setting a new Championship Record and showcasing the depth of talent in European swimming.
