Max Litchfield won silver in the men’s 400 IM at the 2025 European Short Course Swimming Championships, taking Great Britain’s final medal tally to 11.

To round off his 2025 short course season, Max Litchfield took home a men’s 400 IM silver medal from the Championships in Lublin after finishing with a time of 4:03.25.

This was his second time medalling in this event at these championships after he took home the men’s 400 IM gold medal in the 2019 edition, which was held in Glasgow.

On his silver medal, Pontefract-born Litchfield said, “It was nice to be on the podium again. The time wasn’t really anywhere near what I wanted, but just to be back on the podium again was really great, as it’s been a few years since I was up there, and it’s just good to be back racing on the international stage and enjoying being out there racing for GB.”

Litchfield’s medal helped Great Britain finish third in the medal standings at the championships after winning three golds, four silvers, and four bronze medals over the course of the six days of competition.

They finished behind Italy (1st) and the Netherlands (2nd), with France being the only other nation to finish with more medals than Great Britain’s 11.

On Great Britain’s performance at the championships, Litchfield said, “It was really good. We were trying to defend that title (finishing top of the medal standings) from Romania a few years ago, so we obviously had a great meet there.”

“We tried to build upon that, and finishing 3rd, we would have liked to have gone top of that table, but I think it was a great performance from the team all round. There were some amazing swims from everyone, massive PBs from a lot of people across the team, and it was a great meet all round, I guess, considering we didn’t really take a full team.”

The Sheffield Hallam University alumnus also reached the final of the men’s 200 IM, where he raced alongside his teammate Duncan Scott, finishing in 7th place with a time of 1:54.06.

Alongside his European success, Litchfield’s 2025 season has also seen domestic triumph, as he retained his 400 IM title at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in April with a time of 4:11:59.

On the impact of the domestic championships, Litchfield said, “It’s just good racing again. It’s always going to be tough; it’s faster than ever basically, and we took a team which wasn’t a full-strength team as such, and we performed very, very well.”

“We’re medalling across the board, and PBing, and records were broken left, right, and centre, so it’s good to be there, and it’s all part of our journey as Great Britain toward LA, and we’re just kind of building through that from cycle to cycle and year to year.”

2026 marks the midway point of the Olympic cycle, and as this month’s championships proved, Great Britain and the rest of Europe are heading in the right direction for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

The 400 IM medal finishers, Alberto Razzetti, Litchfield and Cedric Buessing, all made the final of the same event at the 2024 Olympic Games, showcasing the strength of European swimming.

On the 400 IM and what the championships mean for European swimming, Litchfield said, “It’s good. I mean, it’s just amazing to see across the board you’re getting stronger fields in every event. Not necessarily in the 400 M, but in the 400 free, I think it was the fastest time to make it back ever in that event.”

“A European event is having some of the fastest races ever, including the world stage, so to see that happening is great, and it’s pushing everyone forward at the same time. The people on the podium in the 400M were all in the Olympic final, and it’s great to see, and it’s good to race these guys. You don’t get an opportunity to race these guys very often, so you’ve just got to make the most of it when you do.”

In April, the 2026 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships will be returning to the London Aquatics Centre for the third consecutive year, which will see Litchfield looking to retain his 400 IM title for a third successive time.

At these championships, he and the rest of the Team GB swimmers will be eyeing up spots for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games and the 2026 European Aquatics Championships.

On what 2026 and the future hold, Litchfield said: “It’s great to have London again. I think we have London now until LA, so that’s really good. It’s a great pool and a really great atmosphere, and one that really brings out the best in us all at trials, so I think that’s really positive for everyone involved.

“As soon as Paris finished, I sat down with my coach and set the direction, I guess, and I’ve been so close in all three Olympic Games, so I want to keep going, and I want to get that medal, and that’s kind of been our mantra: we want to try and be at our best as many times as we possibly can in the lead-up. Which kind of comes back to being on the podium again being really good; it’s just another stepping stone. We’re going to try being on the podium as many times as we can at these major meets, so LA is well in my mind.”