Karolina Pelendritou places fifth in 50m freestyle S11 at European Para Swimming Championships

Triple Paralympic champion Karolina Pelendritou finished fifth in the 50m freestyle S11 final at the European Para Swimming Championships in Kocaeli, Turkey, on September 7, 2026. After advancing from the morning qualifiers with the third-best time of 30.63 seconds, Pelendritou appeared to be in contention for a medal during the final. However, she struck the pool wall shortly before the finish line, forcing her to restart her stroke, which resulted in a final time of 31.92 seconds. The race was won by Dutch swimmers Liesette Bruinsma and Irene Van Drimmelen, followed by Ukrainian athlete Tkachuk.

S11 category swimmers compete while completely visually impaired, relying on tactile navigation to avoid pool boundaries. Despite her morning qualification performance, which would have been fast enough to secure gold had she matched it in the final, the incident disrupted her pursuit of an eighth career European medal. Pelendritou, a decorated athlete who holds the European record of 29.58 set in Madeira in 2022, previously claimed a silver medal at the Para Swimming World Series earlier in 2026. Her career highlights include numerous European championship medals dating back to 2011, achieved primarily in the 100m breaststroke and 50m freestyle events.