Olympic Medalist Apostolos Christou Hits 24.46 50 Again At Acropolis Open

2026 ACROPOLIS SWIM OPEN

Day two of the 2026 Acropolis Swim Open unfolded yesterday from Athens with the nation’s swimmers vying for slots on the European Championships roster, in addition to on the 2027 World Championships lineup.

Olympic medalist Apostolos Christou made his presence identified within the males’s 50m backstroke, rocking a brand new meet report of 24.46 to dominate the sector.

The 29-year-old veteran posted the only time of the ultimate below the 25-second barrier, as Turkish swimmer Ali Satir reaped silver in 25.03, adopted by Eyangelos Makrygiannis who bagged the bronze in 25.13.

As for Christou, his 24.46 time checked in because the 4th-fastest of his profession, one which boasts a lifetime greatest and nationwide report of 24.36 notched en path to turning into the 2022 European Championships gold medalist.

He now ranks sixth on the earth on the season.

After the race, Christou instructed the Greek Swimming Federation, “It has already been proven that I’m higher than I used to be final yr on the World Championships in Singapore, the place I used to be nonetheless in a transitional stage after the Paris Olympics.

“I wanted the national record in the 50m and it didn’t happen because I didn’t have the strength to finish. Of course, I got down to 24.50 and I am very happy that this happened.”

Asked which occasions he’ll deal with, he identified, “The 100m backstroke, which is my traditional one, and I want a good race tomorrow and of course I will work on the 50m as well.”

The high two ladies’s 100m butterfly performers additionally certified for the European Championships in addition to subsequent yr’s World Championships.

National report holder Anna Ntountounaki was the highest performer, reaping gold in 58.02.

That narrowly defeated teammate Georgia Damasioti, who clocked 58.06, with French swimmer Lili-Rose Berthelot capturing bronze in 59.74.

The males’s 50m breast noticed a trio of Turkish athletes monopolize the rostrum, led by Olympian Emre Sakci.

Sakci, now 28 years of age, produced a brand new meet report of 27.12 to get to the wall over half a second forward of the pack.

Omer Ogretir Berkay was the following to the touch in 27.68 whereas Nusrat Allahverdi additionally landed on the rostrum in 28.08, ok for bronze.

Sakci sneaks into the season’s world rankings in slot #22.

Additional Notes

• Visiting German ace Nicole Maier adopted up on her 100m free victory by nabbing gold within the 200m free occasion. Maier registered 1:59.37 as the only performer below the two:00 barrier. France’s Maeline Bessard snagged the silver in 2:00.57 whereas Ecem Donmez of Turkey rounded out the rostrum in 2:02.33.
• Dimitrios Markos led a trio of home swimmers to the rostrum within the males’s version of the 200m free. 24-year-old Markos stopped the clock at 1:47.75, splitting 25.08/27.91 (52.99)/27.15/27.61 within the course of. His lifetime greatest stays on the 1:46.28 established within the prelims finally yr’s World Championships. There in Singapore, Markos in the end positioned fifteenth total in a slower mark of 1:47.01. Last night time, Konstantinos Englezakis was the silver medalist in 1:49.94 and Iason Routoulas nabbed bronze in 1:50.33.
• Following up on his 200m again nationwide report, Apostolos Siskos tried the 100m fly on for dimension. The 20-year-old notched a successful effort of 52.68 to eke out the victory forward of Konstantinos Stamou, who settled for silver simply .05 behind in 52.73. Angel Exposito of France scored 53.06 to take the bronze medal.