Spanish swimmer Hugo Gonzalez secured a silver medal in the men's 200-metre individual medley at the European Swimming Championships in Paris on Sunday.
Laura Cabanes added a bronze medal in the women's 200-metre butterfly on the final day of competition to bring Spain's total medal count to 11 at the tournament.
Spain ended the championships 13th in the overall medal standings with one gold, six silver, and four bronze medals. Artistic swimmer Iris Tió claimed Spain's lone gold medal of the competition in the technical solo event.
Reflecting on the artistic swimming outcomes, coach Andrea Fuentes said Russia had taken gold but lost dignity, adding that the circumstances had ultimately done Spain a favor.
Gonzalez, a swimmer from Mallorca, pushed defending champion Hubert Kos of Hungary to the final stroke in the 200-metre individual medley final. Kos secured his third consecutive European title with a winning time of 1:54.24, while Gonzalez touched two-tenths of a second behind in 1:54.44.
Hugo Gonzalez takes silver in 200m medley
Kos established an early lead during the opening butterfly and backstroke legs of the race. Gonzalez mounted his comeback during the second half of the 50-metre breaststroke leg before pressing Kos closely throughout the concluding freestyle sprint.
Russian swimmer Mikhail Shcherbakov finished well behind the lead pair to take the bronze medal in 1:56.16. French Olympic champion Leon Marchand did not enter the event.
Gonzalez had earlier placed sixth in the 200-metre backstroke, close to his personal best, before withdrawing from the 100-metre backstroke to focus entirely on the medley. He qualified for the medley final with the fastest overall time, setting a championship record in the process.
The performance comes after a transitional 2025 season during which Gonzalez returned to train in Spain following his collegiate career at university in the United States. His world-class mark positions him strongly as a medal contender for future major championships.
Laura Cabanes secures bronze in 200m butterfly
In the subsequent event, 20-year-old Laura Cabanes from the central Spanish region of La Mancha earned her first major senior international medal by taking bronze in the women's 200-metre butterfly. Keira Macinnes of Great Britain won the gold medal, while Helena Rosendahl Bach of Denmark took silver.
Cabanes trailed in fourth place at both the first and second wall turns before unleashing a powerful final lap sprint to edge Ireland's Ellen Walshe by 0.19 seconds. Cabanes stopped the clock in a career-best time of 2:07.21.
Prior to travelling to the championships in the French capital, Cabanes had stated that securing a medal would require swimming in the low 2:07 range, a target she matched precisely in Sunday's final.
Spain builds towards Los Angeles 2028 Olympics
The Spanish swimming federation competed under its broader Objetivo Final Olímpica 2028 initiative, aimed at developing a deep squad of contenders for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. The program seeks to build depth across multiple events to avoid reliance on individual stars such as Mireia Belmonte and Hugo Gonzalez.
Spain fielded 23 finalists in Paris despite the absence of key swimmers Carles Coll and Carmen Weiler. Sixteen-year-old Irene Ciércoles delivered a standout performance by finishing fifth in the 100-metre backstroke and featuring prominently in the relay teams.
Ahead of the final day, the team had recorded three fourth-place finishes, led by Luca Hoek in the men's 100-metre freestyle sprint. The strong finish on Sunday capped a promising campaign for Spain as the national team builds momentum towards the 2028 Olympic Games.
