Dávid Betlehem Completes Distance Treble & Wins Points Trophy At Hungarian Championships
Dávid Betlehem and Ajna Kesely each completed the distance treble as the Hungarian Short Course Championships concluded in Debrecen.
Betlehem, who won Olympic 10k bronze in Paris last year, won the 800 free on the fourth and final day for the triple. He clocked 7:41.89 to add the title to his 14:27 1500 rankings-topper when he became the first man inside 14:30 this year and his 400 gold (3:41.78).
He also claimed the 4×100 and 4×200 free titles with FTC to make it five golds in total with the standout 1500 earning him 930 points and the crown for top male performance.
Betlehem was well outside the Hungarian record of 7:29.50 set by Zalán Sárkány at the World Cup in Westmont last month as fatigue played a part but he looked ahead to the short-course Europeans in Lublin, Poland, next month.
“It wasn’t in my mind that I would compete here with Zalán (Sárkány’s) time,” he said through the Hungarian Federation. “At the beginning, yes, if not around 7:29, then maybe around 7:33. There was nothing there in the end, because I was very tired. But the good thing about this is that I swim things that I don’t usually do, whether it feels good or not. At 300, something broke, but I needed the time, and it’s already official that I’m going to the European Championships, so I have a tough four weeks ahead of me.”
Kesely won the women’s event in 8:23.65 following victories in the 400 (4:05.35) and 1500 (16:04.08). She joined Eszter Szabó-Feltóthy, Kincső Szabó and Ajsa Kiss to anchor the FTC women’s 4×2 relay to gold in 8:05.15.
It’s a welcome return to competition for Kesely who missed most of the summer due to injury.
She said: “The one-week joint open water training camp with Dávid Betlehem, led by László Szokolai, helped me a lot – it added a lot to my preparation, and I thank them for the opportunity. I hope I can take this to the European Championships, which I am really looking forward to, because it has been a long time since I swam in an international competition, and what happened here is a good omen.”
Panna Ugrai’s 1:54.98 200 free which earned her 883pts was the top female performance. On the final day, she added the 100IM title in 1:00.17, Ugrai also leaving Debrecen with the 100 free title.
Gábor Zombori concluded the meet with five titles, sweeping the IM treble with victory in the 100 in 52.74. He also won the 100/200 breaststroke double.
Ádám Jászó took his World Cup momentum into Debrecen with four titles. He won the 200 back on Saturday in 1:53.04 for a clean sweep of the backstroke events as he took full advantage of the absence of Olympic and world champion Hubert Kós. He also won the 100 free title on the opening day with Debrecen the most successful national championship of his career.
Lora Komoróczy won a gold medal every day: first in the 50 and 100 backstroke, then in the 50 and 100 butterfly, the latter in 58.10.
Eszter Szabó-Feltóthy won the 200 back in 2:06.67 to add to her IM double with a fourth gold courtesy of the BVSC 4×2 free.
Olivér Gál won the men’s 50 breast in 27.02 with Henrietta Fángli taking the women’s title in 30.40.