Kocaeli 2026 Day 1: Scholtz earns first European gold, Bruinsma celebrates tenth

A first European title for Tanja Scholtz, a tenth for Liesette Bruinsma, but all with the same special taste as the German and the Dutch were among the 26 gold medallists of the opening day of the World Para Swimming European Championships Kocaeli 2026 in Turkiye on Monday (7 September).

A Paralympic and World Championships medallist, Scholtz finally achieved her elusive European gold, setting a new world record for the women’s 50m breaststroke SB2 (56.44) to become the first female athlete in her class to swim under one minute. Her mark was over four and a half seconds faster than her previous world record time from the Singapore 2025 World Championships.

“It’s a wonderful feeling, it is a fairytale for me,” said 42-year-old Scholtz. “It’s my first European title and now I’m complete. My dream was to swim under a minute. That seemed so far away. But I worked hard and a lot with my coach. To have swum such a time now is simply fantastic." 

For Bruinsma, the Kocaeli gold in the women’s 50m freestyle S11 (30.66) came in the 10th anniversary of the Rio 2016 Games, where she won her first two Paralympic medals.

“The whole competition and the experience were really nice, but I’m mostly thankful for is that I did it together with my family that was there watching me in Rio. And they were also here today,” said the Dutch swimmer, who won Paralympic gold in the 400m freestyle S11 and 200m individual medley SM11 in Rio.

Kocaeli also marked Bruinsma’s first major title in the 50m freestyle:

“I’m really surprised, because the 50m freestyle is not my main event. I had three times silver at European and Worlds – my first title in the 50m freestyle. I won a new one for my collection and I’m really happy.”

Hosts Turkiye celebrated a gold medal on day one in the final event of the session, with Defne Kurt winning the women’s 50m freestyle S10 in her European debut.

This year’s Laureus World Sports Awards nominees David Kratochvil of Czechia and Simone Barlaam of Italy also took gold on Monday.

Kratochvil won the men’s 50m freestyle S11, while Barlaam claimed the men’s 50m freestyle S9 – the 13th European title of his career and the second for the Czech swimmer.

Russian athletes won seven gold medals on opening day, including a world record in the men’s 100m backstroke S12 by Vladimir Sotnikov. 

Italy followed with six golds, Ukraine with four and the Netherlands with two. Austria, Czechia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland and Turkiye each won one gold.

The action continues on Tuesday with 23 finals at the Gebze Olympic Swimming Pool. You can watch it live here.

Kocaeli 2026 – Day 1 Medallists

Men’s 400m Freestyle S8
Gold: Andrei Nikolaev (Russia)  
Silver: Alberto Amodeo (Italy)  
Bronze: Evgenii Stepanov (Russia)

Women’s 400m Freestyle S8
Gold: Xenia Francesca Palazzo (Italy)  
Silver: Nahia Zudaire Borrezo (Spain)  
Bronze: Mariia Pavlova (Russia)

Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB9
Gold: Hector Denayer (France)  
Silver: Artem Isaev (Russia)  
Bronze: Ian Florencio Fernández (Spain)

Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB9
Gold: Elizaveta Sidorenko (Russia)  
Silver: Anastasiya Dmytriv (Spain)  
Bronze: Lisa Kruger (Netherlands)

Men’s 50m Breaststroke SB2
Gold: Igor Bobyrev (Russia)  
Silver: Umut Unlu (Turkey)  
Bronze: Ioannis Kostakis (Greece)

Women’s 50m Breaststroke SB2
Gold: Tanja Scholz (Germany)  
Silver: Diana Koltsova (Russia)  
Bronze: Teresa Perales (Spain)

Men’s 50m Freestyle S5
Gold: Artem Oliinyk (Ukraine)  
Silver: Oleksandr Komarov (Ukraine)  
Bronze: Kirill Pulver (Russia)

Women’s 50m Freestyle S5
Gold: Monica Boggioni (Italy)  
Silver: Galina Fedurina (Russia)  
Bronze: Agata Koupilova (Czech Republic)

Men’s 100m Butterfly S13
Gold: Oleksii Virchenko (Ukraine)  
Silver: Enrique Alhambra Mollar (Spain)  
Silver: Egor Shchitkovskii (Russia)

Women’s 100m Butterfly S13
Gold: Carlotta Gilli (Italy)
Silver: Maria Delgado Nadal (Spain)
Bronze: Marian Polo López (Spain)

Men’s 100m Backstroke S6
Gold: Luca da Prato (Italy)
Silver: Laurent Chardard (France)
Bronze: Dino Sinovcic (Croatia)

Women’s 100m Backstroke S6
Gold: Nora Meister (Switzerland)
Silver: Verena Schott (Germany)
Bronze: Emma Lancini (Italy)

Men’s 200m Freestyle S14
Gold: William Ellard (Great Britain)
Silver: Rodion Berdnik (Russia)
Bronze: Klim Rumiantsev (Russia)

Women’s 200m Freestyle S14
Gold: Valeriia Shabalina (Russia)
Silver: Poppy Maskill (Great Britain)
Bronze: Tara Beard (Great Britain)

Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM7
Gold: Veronika Korzhova (Ukraine)
Silver: Milana Shchelokova (Russia)
Bronze: Anna Hontar (Ukraine)

Men’s 50m Freestyle S11
Gold: David Kratochvil (Czech Republic)
Silver: Rogier Dorsman (Netherlands)
Bronze: Edgaras Matakas (Lithuania)

Women’s 50m Freestyle S11
Gold: Liesette Bruinsma (Netherlands)
Silver: Irene van Drimmelen (Netherlands)
Bronze: Kateryna Tkachuk (Ukraine)

Men’s 50m Breaststroke SB3
Gold: Andreas Ernhofer (Austria)
Silver: Vicente Gil (Spain)
Bronze: Dimitri Granjux (France)

Women’s 50m Breaststroke SB3
Gold: Monica Boggioni (Italy)
Silver: Mira Larionova (Russia)
Bronze: Maryna Verbova (Ukraine)

Men’s 100m Backstroke S12
Gold: Vladimir Sotnikov (Russia)  
Silver: Konstantin Burmistrov (Russia)  
Bronze: Yauheni Kavalionak (Belarus)

Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB4
Gold: Dmitrii Cherniaev (Russia)  
Silver: Nikita Pavlov (Russia)  
Bronze: Artem Oliinyk (Ukraine)

Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB4
Gold: Galina Fedurina (Russia)  
Silver: Giulia Ghiretti (Italy)  
Bronze: Fanni Illes (Hungary)

Men’s 50m Freestyle S9
Gold: Simone Barlaam (Italy)  
Silver: Oliwier Krzyszkowski (Poland)  
Bronze: Denis Tarasov (Russia)

Women’s 50m Freestyle S9
Gold: Florianne Bultje (Netherlands)  
Silver: Elena Kliachkina (Russia)  
Bronze: Anastasiya Dmytriv (Spain)

Men’s 50m Freestyle S10
Gold: Ihor Nimchenko (Ukraine)  
Silver: Stefano Raimondi (Italy)  
Bronze: Hugo Mera Tato (Spain)

Women’s 50m Freestyle S10
Gold: Defne Kurt (Turkey)  
Silver: Elizaveta Sidorenko (Russia)  
Bronze: Callie-Ann Warrington (Great Britain)