Thanks to Boglárka Kapás and Dávid Betlehem, the first Hungarian victories in this year’s Aquatics World Cup series were born in Budapest.
The 30-year-old Capas was victorious in the 400m medley in the first final of Saturday’s program of the third and final stage at Dona Arena.
“I would have liked to have a slightly better time than this, but in front of such a crowd it was a fantastic race, which with some exaggeration was like a national championship final,” said Capas, who finished third in the 200 metres. Butterfly on Friday.
Boglárka Kapás achieved Hungary’s first win at the Budapest Swimming Championships
After 4th, 3rd and 2nd places, we got our first Hungarian gold medal.
We didn’t have to wait long for the next Hungarian success, it was true, and it was practically an envelope, as the best local competitors jumped into the pool in the men’s 1500m. The winner, David Bethlehem, and Zalan Sarkany, who finished in second place, also achieved personal bests.
Three Hungarians on the podium after the 1500m swimming championship final
“This would have qualified me for the Summer World Cup Finals. Many thanks to my family and friends who were here today and cheering me on. And of course to my teammates, with whom we swim about six times a day,” Bethlehem said.
David Bethlehem: At that time, I would have reached the World Cup final
Nandor Nemeth then jumped into the pool in the 50m backstroke and finished seventh, and then came the 200m final with two Hungarians, Nicolette Badar and Pana Ogray. In the end, the former finished fourth in 1:56.17, while the latter placed eighth, after improving his Olympic-level personal best (1:56.55) at the Fukuoka World Championships by nine hundredths of a second. At the same time, 17-year-old Badar improved his European record for his age group.
Balázs Holló finished sixth in the men’s 200m medley, and Nandor Nemeth finished fifth in the 100m, nine-hundredths of a second behind the podium.
Kylie McKeown also set a world record in the 100m backstroke at Donna Arena.
In the last individual final of the day, Marton Richard and Levente Balogh were interested in the 200m butterfly, where the former, just as in the previous stop, in Athens, this time also came in second place, while the latter finished in eighth place.
Marton Richard is a silver medalist in the 200m butterfly at the World Cup in Budapest
In the final event, the men’s 4 x 200 meter relay, the Australians won, and the relay of Balázs Hollo, Krzysztof Rasowski, Nandor Nemeth and Richard Marton finished second.
Winners of Saturday’s finals and results for the Hungarians:
men:
1500m fast:
David Bethlehem 14:58.04 minutes
2. Sarkani Zalan 15:04.88
3. Krzysztof Rasowski 15:08.00
5. Matti Hartmann 15:38.34
50 m back:
Michael Andrew (USA) 24.64 seconds
…7. Nandor Nemeth 25.55
200m medley:
Matthew Sats (South Africa) 1:57.72 minutes
…6. Balaz Hollow 1:59.98
50 breast:
Chen Haiyang (China) 26.30 seconds
100m fast:
Thomas Cicon (Italian) 48.41 seconds
…5. Nandor Nemeth 48.71
200m butterfly:
Matthew Sats (South Africa) 1:55.25 minutes
2. Richard Marton 1:56.21
8. Levente Balogh 2:00.69
4x200m relay:
Australia 7:13.97 minutes
2. Hungary (Balázs-Hulu, Krzysztof Rasovsky, Nandor Nemeth, Richard Marton) 7:27.27
3. Hungary B (Gergo Keniris, Christian Orović, Marcel Toth, Mikita Zalan) 8:21.20
slim:
400m medley:
Capas Boglarka 4:43.14 minutes
3. Jackel Vivian 4:45.95
4. Victoria Mihalivari-Farkas 4:48.39
6. Dalma Sebestyen 4:52.70
7. Tamara Alex 4:56.86
200 meters fast:
Siobhan Bernadette Haughey (Hong Kong) 1:54.08 minutes
…4. Nicolette Badar 1:56.17
…8. Ugra Panna 2:00.68
100 meters back:
Kylie McKeown (Australia) 57.33 seconds – world record
50m butterfly:
Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) 25.21 seconds
100m breaststroke:
Benedetta Pilato (Italian) 1:05.83 minutes
Cover Photo:
Budapest, 21 October 2023. Sebastian Szabo (B2) in the heat of the men’s 50m backstroke at the Budapest final leg of the IAAF World Cup Series at Dona Arena on 21 October 2023. MTI/Robert Hegedus
