In the 2024 European Championships Men’s 100 backstroke final, Greece’s Apostolos Christou emerged victorious with a time of 52.23. This was the third-fastest time in the world for the season, just behind Xu Jiayu from China and Ryan Murphy of the US. Christou had previously set a lifetime best of 52.09 in the semifinals of the 2022 World Championships but ended up finishing fifth in the final with a time of 52.57.
In February of this year, Christou won his first World Championships medal with a bronze, swimming a time of 53.36 at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. However, he did not make it to the semifinals at the event and posted a time of 54.01 for 19th place.
Comparing his splits at the European Championships to those at last year’s World Championships, Christou had a faster first 50 meters swim at 25.39 compared to 25.26 but a slightly slower second half at 26.84 compared to 26.83. His previous season best from the Greek Nationals last month was a time of 53.17, which placed him #19 in the world rankings this season after winning gold at Euros