Philatelic document - European Swimming Championships

When Paris and Saint-Denis take to the water In the heart of summer, from July 31 to August 16, 2026, Paris and Saint-Denis will once again vibrate to the rhythm of water sports. Two years after the historic momentum of the 2024 Games, men's and women's athletes gather in France to celebrate the centenary of the creation of the European Swimming Championships. Created in 1926 in Budapest with just nine men's events, this biennial event has become the pinnacle of European swimming. For this 38th edition, a thousand athletes from fifty federations will compete in five major disciplines, combining technical and artistic prowess. Aquatics, the world's leading discipline, led by French prodigy and four-time Olympic champion Léon Marchand, will electrify the Saint-Denis Aquatic Center, built for the Paris Games. In a 50-meter-long pool, athletes will compete in four strokes (backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle), with the stopwatch as sole judge. The quest for speed will be matched by the demands of diving. A spectacular discipline where the precision of the gesture is measured by the splash of the entry into the water. As in artistic swimming, where aquatic choreography and ecstatic smiles disguise a demanding effort, the judges' mark is decisive. Of course, the Seine will be part of the festivities. Open-water swimming specialists will brave the currents over distances ranging from 3 to 10 kilometers, while high-flying divers will launch themselves from a vertiginous 20-meter-high platform. A diversity of disciplines, sporting performances and city events recall the jubilant cocktail of summer 2024. 100,000 spectators will attend the competition. Whether you're a fan or just curious, you'll want to get in on the action.

Timbre (Héliogravure) : création Gwendoline Le Ray, d’ap.photo © Xinhua/Xia Yifang/ABC/Andia.fr. Document philatélique : création Gwendoline Le Ray, d’ap.photo © Céline Escolano/Saif images. Cachet d’oblitération : création Gwendoline Le Ray, d’ap.photo © J-F Rollinger/OnlyParis.net. Texte : Myriam Alizon.