title: 1997 European Aquatics Championships
text: # 1997 European Aquatics Championships
  
  The 1997 LEN European Aquatics Championships were held in Seville, Spain from Tuesday 19 August to Sunday 24 August, in the 50 m pool of the Centro Deportivo San Pablo. The 23rd edition of the event was organised by the LEN. Besides swimming there were titles contested in open water swimming, diving, synchronized swimming (women) and – for the last time – water polo.
  
  The swimming championships resulted in two European records: Ágnes Kovács on the women's 200 m breaststroke and Russia in the men's 4×100 m freestyle relay. Alexander Popov returned in competition after being stabbed down in Moscow, shortly after the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
  
  ## Medal table
  
  * Host nation (Spain)
  
  | Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Russia | 16 | 9 | 3 | 28 |
  | 2 | Germany | 15 | 8 | 10 | 33 |
  | 3 | Hungary | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
  | 4 | Italy | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
  | 5 | Netherlands | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
  | 6 | Spain* | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
  | 7 | Ireland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
  | 8 | Great Britain | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
  | 9 | Belarus | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
  | 10 | France | 1 | 7 | 4 | 12 |
  | 11 | Sweden | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
  | 12 | Denmark | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
  | 13 | Ukraine | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
  | 14 | Slovakia | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
  | 15 | Poland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
  | 16 | FR Yugoslavia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
  | 16 | Israel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
  | 18 | Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
  | 19 | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
  | 20 | Austria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
  | 20 | Finland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
  | 20 | Romania | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
  | Totals (22 entries) | Totals (22 entries) | 51 | 52 | 50 | 153 |
  
  ## Swimming
  
  ### Men's events
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 50 m freestyle | Alexander Popov Russia | Mark Foster Great Britain | Julien Sicot France |
  | 100 m freestyle | Alexander Popov Russia | Lars Frölander Sweden | Oleg Rykhlevich Belarus |
  | 200 m freestyle | Paul Palmer Great Britain | Massimiliano Rosolino Italy | Béla Szabados Hungary |
  | 400 m freestyle | Emiliano Brembilla Italy | Massimiliano Rosolino Italy | Paul Palmer Great Britain |
  | 1500 m freestyle | Emiliano Brembilla Italy | Igor Snitko Ukraine | Denis Zavhorodny Ukraine |
  | 100 m backstroke | Martin López-Zubero Spain | Eithan Urbach Israel | Vladimir Selkov Russia |
  | 200 m backstroke | Vladimir Selkov Russia | Emanuele Merisi Italy | Ralf Braun Germany |
  | 100 m breaststroke | Aleksandr Gukov Belarus | Károly Güttler Hungary | Daniel Málek Czech Republic |
  | 200 m breaststroke | Aleksandr Gukov Belarus | Andrey Korneyev Russia | Daniel Málek Czech Republic |
  | 100 m butterfly | Lars Frölander Sweden | Denys Sylantyev Ukraine | Franck Esposito France |
  | 200 m butterfly | Franck Esposito France | Denys Sylantyev Ukraine | Stephen Parry Great Britain |
  | 200 m individual medley | Marcel Wouda Netherlands | Xavier Marchand France | Jani Sievinen Finland |
  | 400 m individual medley | Marcel Wouda Netherlands | Frederik Hviid Spain | Robert Seibt Germany |
  | 4×100 m freestyle relay | Russia Alexander Popov Roman Yegorov Denis Pimankov Vladimir Pyshnenko | Germany Alexander Lüderitz Steffen Zesner Christian Tröger Torsten Spanneberg | Netherlands Bram van Haandel Martijn Zuijdweg Mark Veens Pieter van den Hoogenband |
  | 4×200 m freestyle relay | Great Britain Paul Palmer Andrew Clayton Gavin Meadows James Salter | Netherlands Pieter van den Hoogenband Mark van der Zijden Martijn Zuijdweg Marcel Wouda | Germany Lars Conrad Christian Keller Stefan Pohl Steffen Zesner |
  | 4×100 m medley relay | Russia Vladimir Selkov Andrey Korneyev Vladislav Kulikov Alexander Popov | Germany Ralf Braun Jens Kruppa Thomas Rupprath Christian Tröger | Poland Mariusz Siembida Marek Krawczyk Marcin Kaczmarek Bartosz Kizierowski |
  
  ### Women's events
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 50 m freestyle | Natalya Meshcheryakova Russia | Sandra Völker Germany | Therese Alshammar Sweden |
  | 100 m freestyle | Sandra Völker Germany | Martina Moravcová Slovakia | Antje Buschschulte Germany |
  | 200 m freestyle | Michelle Smith Ireland | Nadezhda Chemezova Russia | Camelia Potec Romania |
  | 400 m freestyle | Dagmar Hase Germany | Michelle Smith Ireland | Kerstin Kielgass Germany |
  | 800 m freestyle | Kerstin Kielgass Germany | Carla Geurts Netherlands | Jana Henke Germany |
  | 100 m backstroke | Antje Buschschulte Germany | Roxana Maracineanu France | Sandra Völker Germany |
  | 200 m backstroke | Cathleen Rund Germany | Antje Buschschulte Germany | Roxana Maracineanu France |
  | 100 m breaststroke | Ágnes Kovács Hungary | Svitlana Bondarenko Ukraine | Brigitte Becue Belgium |
  | 200 m breaststroke | Ágnes Kovács Hungary | Alicja Pęczak Poland | Brigitte Becue Belgium |
  | 100 m butterfly | Mette Jacobsen Denmark | Martina Moravcová Slovakia | Johanna Sjöberg Sweden |
  | 200 m butterfly | María Peláez Spain | Michelle Smith Ireland | Mette Jacobsen Denmark |
  | 200 m individual medley | Oxana Verevka Russia | Martina Moravcová Slovakia | Yana Klochkova Ukraine |
  | 400 m individual medley | Michelle Smith Ireland | Yana Klochkova Ukraine | Hana Černá Czech Republic |
  | 4×100 m freestyle relay | Germany Katrin Meissner Simone Osygus Antje Buschschulte Sandra Völker | Sweden Louise Jöhncke Josefin Lillhage Malin Svahnström Therese Alshammar | Russia Svetlana Leshukova Natalya Meshcheryakova Inna Yaitskaya Nadezhda Chemezova |
  | 4×200 m freestyle relay | Germany Dagmar Hase Janina Götz Antje Buschschulte Kerstin Kielgass | Sweden Louise Jöhncke Josefin Lillhage Johanna Sjöberg Malin Svahnström | Denmark Britt Raaby Berit Puggaard Mette Jacobsen Ditte Jensen |
  | 4×100 m medley relay | Germany Antje Buschschulte Sylvia Gerasch Katrin Meissner Sandra Völker | Russia Olga Kochetkova Olga Landik Svetlana Pozdeyeva Natalya Meshcheryakova | Great Britain Sarah Price Jaime King Caroline Foot Karen Pickering |
  
  ## Open water swimming
  
  ### Men's events
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 5 km open water | Aleksey Akatyev (RUS) | Yevgeny Bezruchenko (RUS) | Luca Baldini (ITA) |
  | 25 km open water | Aleksey Akatyev (RUS) | Christof Wandratsch (GER) Stéphane Lecat (FRA) | |
  
  ### Women's events
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 5 km open water | Peggy Büchse (GER) | Valeria Casprini (ITA) | Rita Kovács (HUN) |
  | 25 km open water | Rita Kovács (HUN) | Valeria Casprini (ITA) | Edith van Dijk (NED) |
  
  ## Diving
  
  ### Men's events
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 m springboard | Andreas Wels Germany | Holger Schlepps Germany | Rafael Álvarez Spain |
  | 3 m springboard | Dmitri Sautin Russia | Andreas Wels Germany | Stefan Ahrens Germany |
  | 10 m platform | Jan Hempel Germany | Yaroslav Makogin Ukraine | Heiko Meyer Germany |
  | 3 m springboard synchro | Holger Schlepps Alexander Mesch Germany | José Luis Hidalgo Rubén Santos Spain | Donald Miranda Nicola Marconi Italy |
  | 10 m platform synchro | Jan Hempel Michael Kühne Germany | Igor Lukashin Aleksandr Varlamov Russia | Frédéric Pierre Gilles Emptoz-Lacote France |
  
  ### Women's events
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 m springboard | Vera Ilyina Russia | Irina Lashko Russia | Dörte Lindner Germany |
  | 3 m springboard | Yuliya Pakhalina Russia | Vera Ilyina Russia | Anna Lindberg Sweden |
  | 10 m platform | Olga Khristoforova Russia | Annika Walter Germany | Svitlana Serbina Ukraine |
  | 3 m springboard synchro | Claudia Bockner Conny Schmalfuss Germany | Irina Lashko Yuliya Pakhalina Russia | Julia Cruz Dolores Sáez Spain |
  | 10 m platform synchro | Ute Wetzig Anke Piper Germany | Julie Danaux Odile Arboles-Souchon France | Marion Reiff Anja Richter Austria |
  
  ## Synchronized swimming
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Solo | Olga Sedakova Russia | Virginie Dedieu France | Giovanna Burlando Italy |
  | Duet | Olga Brusnikina Mariya Kiselyova Russia | Virginie Dedieu Myriam Lignot France | Giada Ballan Serena Bianchi Italy |
  | Team | Russia Elena Azarova Elena Barantseva Olga Brusnikina Natalia Gruzdeva Mariya Kiselyova Olga Medvedeva Olga Novokshchenova Anna Yuriaeva | France Agnes Berthet Virginie Dedieu Julie Fabre Myriam Lignot Isabelle Manable Delphine Marechal Charlotte Massardier Eva Riffet | Italy Giada Ballan Serena Bianchi Giovanna Burlando Brunella Carrafelli Chiara Cassin Alessia Lucchini Letizia Nuzzo Clara Porchetto |
  
  ## Water polo
  
  ### Men's team event
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Team competition | Hungary | FR Yugoslavia | Russia |
  
  ### Women's team event
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Team competition | Italy | Russia | Netherlands |
  