Nowacki 'shocked' to break European junior record

Filip Nowacki is one of Jersey's most promising young sports people

Filip Nowacki says he could not believe that he had broken the European junior record at 200m breaststroke.

The 17-year-old from Jersey twice broke the old continental mark on his way to winning gold at the European junior Championships in Slovakia.

The Team GB swimmer also won gold in the 100m breaststroke in 59.59 seconds - breaking the British junior record held by multiple Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Adam Peaty.

Nowacki, who won two bronze medals at the British senior championships earlier this year, also took silver in the 50m breaststroke.

"I was completely shocked to be honest," he said of the European record he broke for the first time in the 200m breaststroke in the semi-final.

"I knew I was in good shape coming into the championships, but I didn't know I was going to break the record.

"So when I looked at the board after the semi-final, I was just completely shocked and a massive wave of emotion, it was something truly special that I'll remember for a while."

Nowacki is hoping he will be selected for the World Junior Championships in Romania in August.

It would be his biggest global event since he won three medals at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games.

"I think it'd be the biggest competition that I've been to," he told BBC Sport.

"The Commonwealth Youth Games were pretty big, that was very much international - I know there's no America but, Australia, Canada and all the big nations from around the world were there, and the fact that it was on the other side of the planet as well I found that one quite big as well."

Nowacki has returned to Jersey for a short while before he links up with his team-mates for the Island Games in Orkney.

Nowacki will swim in all the breaststroke events, as well as the 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley and some relays as he looks to add more medals to his collection.

"I missed 2023 in Guernsey so I'm super happy to spend some time with my friends here on the island that I haven't seen in a while due to boarding school and hopefully I'll swim fast again," he says of the 2025 Island Games.

"I'm just looking forward to the vibes and the atmosphere.

"It's been a while since I've competed for Jersey, so I'm just really looking forward to spending some time with my friends and all swimming quick at the pool, not really accolades and golds at this moment in time."