The first edition of the European Short Course Championships was held in Rostock, Germany, from December 13 to December 15, 1996. The event, just a couple of months after the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, replaced the European Sprint Swimming Championships, where only the 50 m events and the 100 m individual medley were at stake. From this edition on, also the events longer than that were contested.
| 1996 European Short Course Swimming Championships | |
|---|---|
| Host city | Rostock, Germany |
| Date(s) | 13–15 December 1996 |
| Nations participating | 21 |
← 1994 1998 → | |
Medal table
edit* Host nation (Germany)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Germany (GER)* | 14 | 14 | 11 | 39 |
| 2 |  Great Britain (GBR) | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 |  Netherlands (NED) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 4 |  Sweden (SWE) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 5 |  Poland (POL) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 |  Italy (ITA) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 |  Czech Republic (CZE) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 8 |  Norway (NOR) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 9 |  Slovakia (SVK) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 |  Austria (AUT) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 |  Belarus (BLR) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 12 |  Spain (ESP) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 |  Ukraine (UKR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 |  Romania (ROM) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 15 |  Croatia (CRO) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 16 |  Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 17 |  Slovenia (SLO) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 18 |  Bulgaria (BUL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Finland (FIN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 France (FRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Greece (GRE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (21 entries) | 38 | 38 | 39 | 115 | |