2026 European Swimming ChampionshipsThe heats of the men’s 800m freestyle unfolded this morning at the 2026 European Championships, with European Record holder Johannes Liebmann of Germany staking his claim on potential gold. Liebmann stopped the clock at a speedy mark of 7:41.87 to lead the pack but Hungarian Zalan Sarkany is hot on his trail, notching a new national record en route to capturing the 2nd seed. Of note, 5th-seeded Dimitrios Markos crushed a big-time Greek national record this morning. In doing so, he handily overtook the former national record of 1:46.28 he put on the books at last year’s World Championships. Men’s 800 Freestyle — PrelimsWorld Record: 7:32.12 — Zhang Lin (CHN), 2009European Record: 7:37.94 — Johannes Liebmann (GER)European Championship Record: 7:40.86 — Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 2022(ITA), 2022 European Junior Record: 7:43.37 — Lorenzo Galossi (ITA), 2022(ITA), 2022 2024 European Champion: 7:46.20 — Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR)Top 8 Qualifiers