SAMORIN, Slovakia – After a year off, the European Aquatics U23 Swimming Championships return this June in at the x-bionic sphere in Samorin, Slovakia. Southern Illinois University will be well represented at the Championships, with Juraj Barcot and Benedek Andor set to compete at the event from Thursday, June 26, through Saturday, June 28.
“We have many Salukis competing internationally all over the world this summer,” says head coach of the Salukis, Geoff Hanson. “It’s very exciting for Benedek and Juraj to get the chance to compete and represent their home countries at the U23 European Championships this week. We’ll be cheering them on from Carbondale.”
Barcot, a rising sophomore from Dubrovnik, Croatia, will be participating in the 200- and 400-IM as well as the 200-breaststroke. This past season, his first as a Saluki, Barcot was named First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference while finishing as the 400-IM runner-up at the MVC Championships. Last summer, Barcot competed in the European Aquatics Championships with his highest finish coming in the 400-IM where he took eighth place.
As for Andor, he will be competing in the 50-freestyle, 100-freestyle, and 100-butterfly. The rising-junior will represent his home-nation of Hungary, which he also did at the last European U23 Championships in 2023. There, the Gyor-native swam in the same three events he will be swimming in this summer. This past SIU season, Andor earned a spot on the All-MVC First Team while nabbing podium finishes in the 100-butterfly and 200-IM at the MVC Championships.
Andor will be in action first, competing in the 100-butterfly on Thursday, June 26. Both Salukis will then compete on Friday, June 27, with Barcot swimming in the 200-breaststroke and 400-IM while Andor participates in the 50-freestyle. The events comes to a close on Saturday, June 28, when Barcot will swim the 200-IM and Andor the 100-freestyle. All preliminary heats are set for 2:30 a.m. CST while the finals commence at 11 a.m. CST.
Additional information regarding the European U23 Championships can be found at https://europeanaquatics.org/
