LEN European Aquatics Championships
| European Aquatics Championships | |
|---|---|
| Status | active |
| Genre | sporting event |
| Date(s) | mid-year |
| Frequency | biannual |
| Country | varying |
| Inaugurated | 1926 |
The European Aquatics Championships is the continental Aquatics championship for Europe, which is organized by LEN—the governing body for aquatics in Europe. The Championships are currently held every two years (in even years); and since 1999, they have included 4 aquatics disciplines: Swimming (long course/50m pool), Diving, Synchronized swimming and Open water swimming. Prior to 1999, the championships also included Water polo, which beginning in 1999 LEN split-off into a separate championships. The open water events are not held during the Olympic year.
The Championships are generally held over a two-week period in mid-to-late Summer; however, in the most recent Summer Olympics years (2004, 2008 and 2012), the Championships were moved to the Spring to be moved away from the Olympics.
The swimming portion of these championships is considered one of the premier swimming competitions in the world.
Note: LEN also conducts an annual short-course (25m) swimming championship, which is a separate and different event (typically held in early December).
Historically, the Championships were first held in 1926, and included water polo prior to 1999 when the discipline was moved to the European Water Polo Championship. From 1973-1999 Europeans were held in years without a Summer Olympics or World Championships, save 1979 (1973 being the inception year of the World Championships; and 1999 being the last year before Worlds moved from even-years between Summer Olympics to every-odd year beginning in 2001). Women were first allowed to participate at the second Championships in 1927
Note: The table includes medals won in swimming (since 1926), diving (since 1926), synchronized swimming (since 1974), open water swimming (since 1993) and water polo since 1926 until and including 1997 when the discipline was part of the event. From 1999 the water polo event was separated and got its own independent tournament as European Water Polo Championship.
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