Youth Performance Squad impress at 2026 Euro Meet in Luxembourg

Swim England’s Youth Performance Squad produced a series of excellent performances at the 2026 Euro Meet in Luxembourg, returning home with ten medals. The team of 38 athletes, led by Head Coach Greg King-Limb (Mount Kelly), embraced the opportunity to race strong international opposition from January 30 to 1 February.

The purpose of the meet was for the athletes of the Youth Performance Squad to develop holistically through competing abroad early in cycle two at a competition that is a process meet, gaining valuable experience that compliments the work the athletes do in their daily training environments.

The delegation also included experienced international swimmer Emily Richards from the Manchester Performance Centre, who joined the squad to provide the opportunity for the developing athletes to engage with an elite athlete mentor.

Richards leads by example in the Butterfly events

Emily Richards played a key leadership role across the weekend and backed it up with two outstanding butterfly performances. She won silver in the 200m Butterfly after qualifying second for the final and touched in 2:08.65. Her race highlighted a strong English showing, with Edith Price finishing fifth in 2:13.98 and Lucia Lesti eighth in 2:16.58.

Richards also advanced to the final of the 100m Butterfly. After qualifying fifth in 1:00.86, she moved up to fourth in the final by going under one minute (59.74) to close out another strong swim.

Smith’s gold headlines a strong all‑round meet

Amalie Smith delivered one of the standout results of the competition, taking England’s only gold medal with an excellent victory in the 400m Medley in 4:40.70. Matilda Potter also impressed in the same event, placing fourth in 4:51.73 and achieving second in the youth ranking.

Smith continued her fine form by securing silver in the 200m Medley after qualifying fastest for the final. She added further finals appearances with seventh place in the 100m Backstroke (1:03.83) and fourth in the 200m Breaststroke (2:28.77).

Distance Freestyle success for Kelly and Benn

Ethan Kelly proved strong across the distance freestyle events, claiming silver in the 800m Freestyle with a time of 8:09.61 and adding bronze in the 1500m Freestyle in 15:39.11.

Middle‑distance specialist Sophie Benn enjoyed a successful meet, securing bronze in the 200m Freestyle in 2:01.80 before returning to the podium with another bronze in the 400m Freestyle. She improved her heat swim of 4:17.70 to finish in 4:17.17 in the final. Smith also featured in the 200m Freestyle final, finishing fourth in 2:01.91.

Shepherd continues sprint progress with two silvers

Gabriel Shepherd continued his upward trajectory in the sprint events, winning silver in the 50m Butterfly in 23.66 before adding another silver in the 100m Freestyle, where he clocked 49.16 after qualifying third.

There was further representation in the sprint events, as Hannah Capron and Annabelle Compton both reached the A final of the 100m Freestyle. Capron placed seventh in 56.13 and Compton eighth in 56.18.

More strong finals across the programme

Imogen Myles collected bronze in the 200m Breaststroke, finishing in 2:28.59 following a strong heat performance. The women’s 200m Backstroke saw both Amber Rigg and Evelyn Hallissey progress to the final. Rigg placed ninth in 2:21.84, while Hallissey finished seventh with an improved 2:20.42.

In the men’s 200m Backstroke, Isaac Thompson produced one of the most notable time drops of the weekend. After qualifying ninth in 2:07.68, he climbed to seventh in the final with an impressive 2:05.34. Capron also secured a top‑eight finish in the 50m Freestyle, placing sixth in 25.81.

Applying the learning

With ten medals and a wide spread of finals appearances, the Euro Meet delivered a highly encouraging start to the year for Swim England’s Youth Performance Squad.

The athletes next steps are to communicate with their home coaches and apply their learning to support their preparation for the 2026 British Championships in April and more importantly their long-term development.