Apostolos Christou and Apostolos Siskos Lead Greek Roster for the European Championships
Apostolos Christou is returning to Paris after his silver medal in the 200 backstroke at the 2024 Olympic Games, and this time he will defend two European titles. On the other hand, Apostolos Siskos is targeting his first gold at the European Championships.
The Hellenic Aquatics Federation announced its roster for the 2026 European Championships, and the squad will consist of 22 swimmers. Among them will be Christou, the three-time European champion between Rome 2022 and Belgrade 2024. The 29-year-old has the second-best time in Europe this season in the 100 backstroke, from his 52.47 win at the recent Sette Colli in Rome. Only Oliver Morgan of Britain has gone faster among Europeans, with his season best at 52.41. In the 50 backstroke, Christou is the sixth-fastest European this year, behind a 24.40.
The 21-year-old Siskos is not only the fastest in Europe, but the fastest in the world this season in the 200 backstroke, behind a mark of 1:54.12. In 2024 in Belgrade, he won the silver medal in the 200 backstroke by finishing in 1:55.42. In May, he turned in two world-class times at the Acropolis Swim Open Meet and at the Greek Nationals, winning in 1:54.12 and 1:55.08.
The Greek roster has two more European champions from the last competition in Belgrade. One of them is Apostolos Papastamos, the defending champion of the 400 individual medley. His season best sits at 4:17.83, which means he’ll require a significant drop to again contend for the podium. Meanwhile, Stergios Bilas has already gone faster than the 23.15 that gave him the gold medal in 50 butterfly in Belgrade. He recently went 23.03 at the Sette Colli.
At the 2024 European Championships in Belgrade, Greece placed second in the medals table with 17 overall. It is important to note that because of the Olympic Games that followed that summer, many federations did not participate. Other Greek medalists from Belgrade who will race in the French capital are Anna Ntountounaki, Georgia Damasioti, Evangelos Makrygiannis and Dimitrios Markos. Theodora Drakou, who finished second in both the 50 freestyle and 50 backstroke, is not racing due to surgery on her shoulder.
The European Championships in Paris will be the first long course competition after the 2024 Olympics for Andreas Vazaios, who owns three medals and one of them is gold. In 2016 in London, he won gold in the final of 200 medley.
The Greek Roster
Men – Apostolos Siskos, Evangelos Makrygiannis, Daniil Giourtzidis, Andreas Vazaios, Apostolos Christou, Stergios Bilas, Apostolos Papastamos, Marios Zafeiropoulos, Evangelos Ntoumas, Panagiotis Vlachogiannakos, Vasilios Kakoulakis, Dimitrios Markos, Iasonas Routoulas, Konstantinos Englezakis, Konstantinos Stamou.
Women – Nikoletta Pavlopoulou, Georgia Damasioti, Anna Vlachou, Andromachi Tasakou, Anna Ntountounaki, Artemis Vasilaki, Eleni Antoniadou.
