Apostolos Papastamos Shines in 400m Individual Medley at European Championships

Apostolos Papastamos delivered the race of his life in the 400m individual medley final at the European Swimming Championships in Belgrade. The Greek champion won the gold medal with a time of 4:10.83, breaking his own national record after five years. This outstanding performance also secured his qualification for the Paris Olympic Games, marking his second Olympic appearance.

Daniil Iourtzidis also performed admirably in the final, finishing fourth with a personal best time of 4:16.64.

Panhellenic Record and Final for Bilas

Stergios Bilas achieved a remarkable performance, setting a new Panhellenic record and securing his first appearance in the final of a major men’s event (individual).

The Greek swimmer posted the best time in the 50m butterfly semi-finals at the European Championships in Belgrade, clocking in at 23.06. This time improved on his previous record of 23.16, set last year at the European U23 Championships in Dublin, where he won the gold medal.

The final will take place tomorrow (June 18) at 19:37. Bilas will compete against Israeli Meiron Amir Ceruti (23.20), Hungarian Sebastian Szabo, the 2021 European champion (23.23), Austrian Simon Bucher (23.29), Ukraine’s Vladislav Bukov (23.29), Czech Daniel Gracik (23.31), Croatia’s Nikola Miljenic (23.34), and Romania’s Denis-Laurean Popescu (23.45).