Mladenovic claims European Championship bronze in 200m breaststroke

Austrian swimmer Luka Mladenovic secured a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, marking Austria's first medal at the long course event. The 22-year-old from Salzburg finished the final in 2:08.91, narrowly missing his own Austrian record set in the semi-finals.

This bronze is Mladenovic's third international medal in the senior category, adding to two bronze medals he won at the short course European Championships in December. He is the first Austrian male swimmer to medal in the longest breaststroke distance at the European Championships since Maxim Podoprigora won bronze in 2000.

Mladenovic's career has seen significant progress, including a World Championship final appearance last year and triple U23 European Championship titles. He previously won junior European silver and a full set of medals at the junior World Championships in 2022.

Despite a setback due to mononucleosis in early 2024, which caused him to miss the Olympics, Mladenovic has relocated to the University of Michigan in the US to train with renowned coach Bob Bowman. He previously trained in Salzburg before moving to Ann Arbor and has now secured a place at the University of Texas in Austin.