Four Medals, 10 Personal Bests and Five LA 2028 Standards for Croatian Para-Swimming Team

One silver medal, three bronze medals, three additional fourth-place finishes, five qualifying standards for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games and 10 personal bests — that was the Croatian para-swimming team's impressive haul at the eighth European Championships in Kocaeli, Türkiye.

Four medals in Kocaeli

Around 400 swimmers from 38 countries competed at the European Championships, with seven Croatian representatives returning home with four medals — one silver and three bronze.

The standout performer was 19-year-old Emma Mečić, who won silver in the 400m freestyle (S9) and bronze in the 100m backstroke (S9), while also recording two fourth-place finishes.

"I am proud of this result. I've wrapped up a tough season with two medals that mean a lot to me and provide motivation for the future. I still have a competition in Sardinia coming up, followed by a well-deserved rest," said Mečić, who lives and trains in Losone, in Switzerland's canton of Ticino.

Mečić first made her mark three years ago at the World Championships in Manchester, where she won silver in the 400m freestyle. A year later, at the European Championships in Portugal, she won gold in the same event and bronze in the 100m backstroke. She then claimed another silver in the 400m freestyle at last year's World Championships in Singapore.

"This silver feels like a gold because the Polish swimmer Oliwia Jablonska, who won with a new European record, was moved down into my category. I'm happy to have continued my streak of winning medals," Mečić said.

"However, I work and train as if I haven't won anything," she added.

Her coach, Luca Marin, was unable to travel to Zagreb due to prior commitments, but said Mečić had once again maintained her record of strong performances at major competitions.

"Just like two years ago, Emma is returning from the European Championships with two medals. In Portugal, she won gold and bronze; this time, it was silver and bronze. She missed out on the silver in the 100m backstroke by mere hundredths of a second. Now comes a well-deserved rest, and then we turn our focus to the World Championships coming up next year," Marin said.

Sinovčić wins 11th consecutive major medal

Dino Sinovčić, the most experienced member of the Croatian para-swimming team, won his 11th consecutive medal at a major international competition in Kocaeli.

The bronze was his fifth European Championship medal. His previous European medals include gold in Dublin in 2018, silver in Madeira in 2021 and 2024, and bronze in Reykjavik in 2009.

Sinovčić also won silver at last year's World Championships in Singapore, his fourth consecutive World Championship medal, following golds in London in 2019 and Funchal, Madeira, in 2022, and silver in Manchester in 2023. His collection of major international honours also includes Paralympic bronze medals from Tokyo in 2021 and Paris in 2024.

"I cherish all my medals; there's a story behind each one — years and years of hard work. I hope there will be a few more," said the 34-year-old Split native.

Sinovčić travelled to Türkiye without high expectations after dealing with health issues earlier in the year.

"Considering all the problems, expecting a medal wasn't realistic. However, experience, a bit of luck, and the training my body remembers led me to this medal. I'm still among the world's best, I'm motivated, and the health issues are behind me. As long as I'm contending for medals, I'll be here," he said.

His coach, Slobodan Glavčić, said Sinovčić's preparation had been affected by a heart arrhythmia earlier in the year.

"We had issues early in the year due to a heart arrhythmia, so we had to ease off a bit. We didn't arrive in peak condition, but Dino once again demonstrated his quality. The World Championship is next year; the competition is getting tougher, but I believe we'll be competitive again," Glavčić said.

Novina: "It's our shared success"

Paula Novina also claimed a medal, taking bronze in the 200m individual medley for her second major international medal.

Two years ago, at the European Championships in Portugal, Novina won bronze in the 50m freestyle.

"This is my second major medal; it's not just mine — it's our shared success. Everything you put into the sport comes back to you," Novina said.

She secured bronze by just two-hundredths of a second ahead of fourth-placed Russian swimmer Maria Pavlova.

"Those two-hundredths of a second are something you train for, not something that just happens. I like to believe these are the very same two-hundredths that cost me a spot in the final in Tokyo. Everything comes back around," she said.

"I know how hard I work and how much of myself I give," she added.

Her coach, Ivan Perzel, said Novina had been dealing with an injury, although her participation at the championships was never in doubt.

"Two-hundredths of a second decided the medal, but it wasn't luck — it was the result of training and hard work. We had a massive foundation and volume of training behind us. All the sacrifices paid off," Perzel said.

Four medals and five LA 2028 standards

Head coach Mirko Samardžić described the four-medal haul as a major success for the Croatian team.

"It was an excellent championship; in addition to the medals, our swimmers set a series of personal bests, achieved several qualifying standards for LA, and competed in numerous finals. We can truly be proud," he said.

Ratko Kovačić, president of the Croatian Paralympic Committee (HPO), congratulated the medalists, as well as the other team members, coaches and support staff.

"It was quite challenging, as it wasn't known until the very last moment whether the European Championship would even take place. But our athletes succeeded. Beyond the medals won, they set 10 personal bests, which demonstrates the excellent form they were in when they arrived in Türkiye," he said.

Roberto Zidar, president of the Croatian Para-Swimming Federation, said the medals represented much more than results recorded in the pool.

"These medals are not merely the result of rankings and times clocked in the pool. They are a testament to the immense hard work, sacrifice, perseverance and self-belief of our athletes, their coaches, clubs, support staff, and everyone who stands by them every day," Zidar said.