2026 AACHEN SWIM FESTIVAL
The 2026 Aachen Swim Festival kicked off this weekend in Germany, with the three-day meet representing Dutchman Nyls Korstanje‘s first return to competition post-injury.
The former NC State dynamo sat out this year’s Dutch Trials and European Championships to tend to a nagging back injury but dove in for the men’s 50m butterfly to begin his charge towards LA 2028.
Korstanje got to the wall in a time of 23.19 to grab the gold ahead of Michael Smink and Jorn Frerichs. The former hit 23.37 for silver while the latter registered 23.50 to round out the podium.
Korstanje’s lifetime best in this SCM 50 fly checks in at the 21.62 he put on the books during the heats of the event at the 2024 Short Course World Championships. There in Budapest, he ultimately posted 21.68 to earn the bronze medal.
A competition record went down at the hands of Noah Verreth of Belgium in the men’s 50m backstroke.
Verreth stopped the clock at 23.76 as the sole swimmer of the pack to clear the 24-second barrier and come within striking distance of his PB of 23.42 from last year.
Host nation swimmer Kai van Westering was next to the wall in 24.35, followed by Paul Alves Torres who scored bronze in 24.57.
30-year-old Maaike de Waard captured two victories to begin her campaign, with the veteran landing atop the podium in the 50m fly and 50m back events.
She notched a new competition record of 25.22 in the 50m fly to beat the field by over half a second, although she’s been as fast as 24.76 in her career.
She then popped a meet mark of 26.39 in the decisive victory in the 50m back, beating the field by over a second in the process.
Additional Notes
- The men’s 50m freestyle saw former national record holder Kenzo Simons get it done for gold in a mark of 21.77. That held off a pair of swimmers who tied for co-silver, with Torres and Josha Salchow touching simultaneously in 22.00 to share runner-up status.
- Milou van Wijk proved too quick to catch in the women’s 50m freestyle, with the 21-year-old ace registering a time of 23.83 as the sole swimmer to delve into 23-second territory. Her outing fell just .08 outside her career-swiftest performance of 23.75 from last year’s Short Course European Championships.
