The CN Vulcania Master swimmer won the silver medal in the +50 category and again touched the podium with a fourth position in the 50 meter freestyle.
Lanzarote swimmer José Juan Aranda, member of the Vulcania Master Swimming Club, has closed the season with new international success after becoming European Master runner-up in the 50 meter backstroke of the +50 category at the European Aquatics Masters Championships 2026, held from August 18 to 24 at the x-bionic® sphere facilities, in Šamorín (Slovakia).
Aranda starred in one of the closest finals in his category and won the silver medal with a time of 29.20, leaving him just three hundredths of a second away from the European title.
The victory went to the Italian Maurizio Tersar, world champion, in a race that was decided practically in the last meters and that once again demonstrated the high competitive level that exists in the +50 category.
Lanzarote swimmer José Juan Aranda, member of the Vulcania Master Swimming Club, has closed the season with new international success after becoming European Master runner-up in the 50 meter backstroke of the +50 category at the European Aquatics Masters Championships 2026, held from August 18 to 24 at the x-bionic® sphere facilities, in Šamorín (Slovakia).
Aranda starred in one of the closest finals in his category and won the silver medal with a time of 29.20, leaving him just three hundredths of a second away from the European title.
The victory went to the Italian Maurizio Tersar, world champion, in a race that was decided practically in the last meters and that once again demonstrated the high competitive level that exists in the +50 category.
“I am very satisfied with the result. Being just three hundredths away from gold in a European Championship always leaves that little taste that it could have been even better, but competing for the European title until the last meter against a world champion is a great motivation. The silver has a lot of value and shows me that I am still at the highest international level,” José Juan Aranda said after the competition.
The representative of the Vulcania Master Swimming Club was also very close to getting on the podium in the 50 meter freestyle, a test in which he achieved a creditable fourth position with a time of 25.60, confirming his great form in the speed tests.
A brilliant end to the season
The medal won in Šamorín puts the finishing touch to a particularly outstanding season for the Lanzarote swimmer, who has won several national titles and continues to accumulate great results in the main international masters category competitions.
Last December, José Juan Aranda already managed to become European Master champion in the 50-meter backstroke in the short course, during the European Championships held in Poland.
That gold and the silver now achieved in Slovakia consolidate the Vulcania Master swimmer among the leading Spanish specialists in speed events.
“It has been a brilliant end to the season. The results achieved in recent months give me a lot of confidence and, above all, a lot of motivation to continue training and face new challenges,” says Aranda.
His recent international results also include the runner-up finish in the World Masters achieved in Singapore, in addition to the different national titles achieved during the 2025/2026 season.
Budapest 2027, the next big goal
With hardly any time to savor the latest results, José Juan Aranda is already looking towards his next great challenge. The Budapest 2027 Masters World Championship appears marked as one of the main objectives of the next season.
The Lanzarote swimmer will face the coming months with the intention of maintaining his progression and continuing to compete at the highest international level, seeking new medals to expand a track record that has placed him among the best master specialists in his category.
With Budapest 2027 on the horizon, Aranda begins a new stage with ambition intact and with the objective of continuing to bring the name of Lanzarote to the great stages of international masters swimming.
Source: gradacero.es
