While there is a lot riding on Commonwealth Games selection at the Aquatics GB championships in London this week, there is still the small matter of picking the team for the European Championships in Paris which will follow hard on Glasgow’s heels.
Indeed, there is only 11 days separating the two competitions, even tighter than the 2014 season when Britain sent a team of 21 swimmers to Berlin off the back of a Glasgow Commonwealth games and, spearheaded by Jazz Carlin and Adam Peaty, duly topped the medal table.
This time round it looks like there is no obligation to take a compact squad with a maximum team size of 40 allowed for. Whether there are sufficient swimmers willing to back up meet-to-meet remains to be seen, but holding a taper for just a few days extra may be more appealing than it was in 2022 after a year with both Worlds and Commonwealths before the Euros, and it may well be a sizeable squad that heads to France. Here’s how that team should take shape.
Preselection
Individual event medal winners at last years World Championships would have been preselected. So that would be Ben Proud, but clearly he’s out, so no spots taken as we head to the main selection point of the season.
Everything centres on the Aquatics GB Championships
With nobody already confirmed, selection will primarily come from performances at the 2026 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships which act as the official trials meet. In short, if you want to go to Europeans, you need to perform in London.
Winners in each event, including for the first time 50m events, will be selected if they hit the qualification standards below. These times are not at all slow so it may be that the number of automatic qualifiers is not high. In a nod to events in the men’s 200 freestyle in London last year, the policy explicitly confirms that in the event of a tie for first, both swimmers will be selected if under the QT.
| Event | Male Qualifying Time | Female Qualifying Time |
|---|---|---|
| 50m Freestyle | 00:21.88 | 00:24.73 |
| 100m Freestyle | 00:48.06 | 00:53.62 |
| 200m Freestyle | 01:45.96 | 01:56.89 |
| 400m Freestyle | 03:46.56 | 04:06.23 |
| 800m Freestyle | 07:50.14 | 08:28.37 |
| 1500m Freestyle | 14:58.76 | 16:07.20 |
| 50m Backstroke | 00:24.70 | 00:27.66 |
| 100m Backstroke | 00:53.47 | 00:59.76 |
| 200m Backstroke | 01:57.87 | 02:08.68 |
| 50m Breaststroke | 00:27.13 | 00:30.57 |
| 100m Breaststroke | 00:59.65 | 01:06.64 |
| 200m Breaststroke | 02:09.55 | 02:23.76 |
| 50m Butterfly | 00:23.13 | 00:25.99 |
| 100m Butterfly | 00:51.35 | 00:57.48 |
| 200m Butterfly | 01:55.54 | 02:07.96 |
| 200m Individual Medley | 01:57.77 | 02:11.27 |
| 400m Individual Medley | 04:13.16 | 04:39.23 |
| 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay | 03:14.01 | 03:37.48 |
| 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay | 07:08.47 | 07:54.25 |
| 4 x 100m Medley Relay | 03:33.15 | 03:58.07 |
| 4 x 100m Mixed Medley Relay | 03:44.10 | |
Runners up will also be selected if they hit the time, including again if there is a tie for second when both swimmers would be picked, acknowledging that the Euros allow four-per-nation in heats. Aquatics GB are taking no chances on ties however as for the first time, a clause that covers the possibility of a three way tie for any selection spot is also included.
Relays will be picked in the usual manner by combining the top four finishers in freestyle events and top placers in each stroke for the medley teams, with no takeover tolerances included.
Discretion
It wouldn’t be a GB selection policy without some discretion, but given the large team size allowed and the tough qualification standards, it is fairly broad this time. Essentially if there are spaces remaining after automatic qualifications, which seems quite likely, the Performance Director and Head coach can select whoever they want within the limits of team size and the four per nation cap at the championships.
This policy follows a now familiar British model in that trials performance is the key differentiator, but this time round, thanks to the large team, the selectors retain a fair amount of discretion. The Euros have been fertile hunting ground for Britain in the past and there is every chance that can be repeated this year.