Outstanding Hungarian performances were achieved at the second stop of the short course World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series held in Westmont, Illinois. During the second weekend of the three-stop North American series, Hungarian swimmers set new national records, winning five medals.
Zalán Sárkány delivered one of the most remarkable feats on Saturday by winning the 800-meter freestyle with a new national record.
The 22-year-old Hungarian world champion improved on his previous best of 7:30.56, set last December at the Duna Arena, Budapest, and triumphed with a time of 7:29.50.
Sárkány also competed in the evening’s faster heat of the 400-meter freestyle, where he finished sixth overall with a time of 3:39.37.
Hubert Kós competed in all three backstroke events in Westmont and won all of them.
On Sunday, he claimed victory in the 100-meter backstroke with a national record time of 48.78, improving by one-hundredth of a second the mark he had set at last year’s World Championships.
This time is also a World Cup record, meaning that no one in the history of the World Cup has ever swum this distance so fast.
He now has six gold medals in his favorite swimming event in the World Cup series.
“It was pretty tough, I felt this hundred a bit longer than a week ago. But I love competing, especially with these guys, and maybe next week we can look at the world record. I was not that happy with the times in the 50-meter and the 200-meter, we will see what comes out of it next week,” said Kós, who had won the overall competition at the first stop of the series, and this time finished second behind his Texas teammate Shaine Casas.
The Hungarian star had already won the 200-meter backstroke on Friday with a time of 1:47.51, and once again set a national record in the 100-meter individual medley, improving his previous week’s 51.29 to 50.99 seconds to finish third. On Saturday, he also won gold in the 50-meter backstroke with a time of 22.91.
Another Hungarian record was set in the finals: Henrietta Fángli placed seventh in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 30.40 seconds, improving Anna Sztankovics’s 2021 national record by one-hundredth of a second. “It was very motivating to swim in such a strong field. I managed to bring out the maximum in each race, and the national record was the icing on the cake,” her club, UNI Győr Úszó SE, quoted Fángli on its Facebook page.
Minna Ábrahám also delivered a strong performance in the women’s 200-meter freestyle final, significantly surpassing her personal best of 1:54.46 by clocking 1:53.15, finishing sixth. The event was won by Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan with a world record time of 1:49.77, becoming the first swimmer to break the 1:50 barrier. The previous record was held by Hong Kong’s Siobhan Bernadette Haughey with a time of 1:50.31.
The World Cup is being held over two weeks in three North American cities. Swimmers competed in Westmont until Sunday, and the series will conclude in Toronto from Wednesday to Friday, between October 23 and 25.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Illyés Tibor
The post Hubert Kós Shines with Triple Gold at Swimming World Cup appeared first on Hungary Today.
