The final night of swimming began with a bang as Sandra Volker (GER) broke her own world record in the 50 back. Her time of 28.71 bettered her time from Monaco by 7/100ths. Nina Zhivanevskaya (ESP) was second and Metka Sparavec (SLO) was third.

Not to be outdone, Pieter vdHoogenband (NED) won the 50 free in a new European meet record. Lorenzo Vismara placed second, beating the great Alexander Popov (RUS) who was third. VdHoogenband then capped off a perfect competition by anchoring the Dutch winning 4x100-medley relay. He split another 47.20, and will now take home 5 European Championship gold medals.

Mette Jacobson (DEN) won the 200fly; it was her best swim of the meet. Jacobson was one of several multi-talented swimmers who chose to scratch races in order to focus on their best events. She scratched the 200 free, an event she was seeded first in. Maria Pelaez (ESP) placed second, unable to defend her title from '97. Otylia Jedrzejczak (POL) won her first international medal by placing third.

In a great night for Spain, Frederick Hviid won the 400 IM, dropping two seconds from his best time set in Sevilla. Mickey Halika dropped four seconds from his time to win silver for Israel. Marcel Wouda took the bronze.

In the women's 50 free, Inge de Bruijn was unable to lower the record she set in the semis, but still managed to go under 25 for the second time. Therese Alshammar (SWE) was second, improving on her third place finish from '97. Alison Sheppard (GBR) picked the bronze in a time that pre-qualifies her for next years Olympics.

In the women's 4x100-medley relay, Sweden defeated Germany to win their first European relay title, while Great Britain picked up the bronze. Sweden's 4:07.52 was a new national record.