Fourth, fifth and eighth place on the final day of the World Swimming Championships
The final day of the World Water Championships in Qatar has ended, but there are still finals of interest for the Hungarians, which was a great success for us. In the men's 1500 freestyle, David Bethlehem achieved the second-best Hungarian result ever and finished fourth. There were Hungarians in the men's and women's 400m medley finals: Boglarka Kappas placed fifth for the women, and Balázs-Hulu placed eighth for the men.
The men's 1500m sprint final was the first of those featuring Hungarian competitors to be held in Doha, where they were able to put pressure on David Bethlehem, who also excelled in the open water. Our compatriot entered the pool primarily to break his own individual record, but of course he also tried to finish the race as high as possible. Halfway through the long race, the swim to Bethlehem, which had started so well, came to a dead end, but in the end, that was it. He eventually finished in fourth place. In addition to the ranking, the time result is also worth a hat-trick, as it achieved the set individual goal, He achieved a huge personal record of 14:46.47, It is the second best Hungarian result ever at this distance.
Balázs Holló in the men's 400m medley final He had a great start in the butterfly, and after the swim he switched to the backstroke in second place, and unfortunately Balazs fell back in the backstroke, although he was still better than he was in the morning. In the breaststroke, unfortunately, Balazs was also outdone by the other competitors, so he headed into the final hundred, the freestyle, in eighth place. The goal, on the one hand, was to improve one or two places and escape an Olympic level time, which he failed to achieve in the morning. The number was finally won by Clearport of New Zealand with a time of 4.09.72. Balázs Holló finished the event in eighth place with a time of 4.19.66 – the same as Budapest and Fukuoka – Unfortunately, he did not manage to escape within the expected time either.
Balázs Holló finished eighth in the men's 400-meter individual medley. Photo: MTI/Tamas Kovacs
And in the women's 400 meter medley We can also lobby for our fellow citizens here Boglárka Kapás fought her way to the final. It was a particularly impressive performance, as it wasn't long before he missed the World Cup. Compared to that, making it to the finals was a huge accomplishment. Cappas made an excellent start to the race, taking first place halfway down the Sorano track, and his time result was also impressive compared to the morning. Unfortunately, Bogie fell back a bit at two miles, and several people passed him, so he switched to fifth place in the last 100 metres, which is the fast position. Finally, he won the British number Colbert, Capas finished fifth with a time of 4.39.78. Which is great in terms of rankings, but still not enough to qualify for the Olympics.
At the World Championships that followed, the gold medal won by Krzysztof Rasovsky and the bronze medal taken by Nandor Nemeth marked the outstanding Hungarian results in swimming, as well as the impressive silver medal of the women's polo team. During the total of fifteen final entries, swimmers won points and medals, but at the same time, the absence of Christoph Milack and Hubert Kos was felt and continues to be felt. There is no doubt that Paris will be much needed for the usual Olympic success of our swimming team.
Main image: MTI/Tamas Kovacs
