On Saturday, Boglárka Kapás and Dávid Betlehem achieved the first Hungarian victories in this year's series of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Budapest.

The 30-year-old Kapás triumphed in the 400-meter medley in the first final of Saturday's program of the third and final stage in the Duna Arena.

“I would have liked to have put a little bit better time out of it, but in front of such a crowd it was a great race that was a bit like a national championship final”

- said Kapás, who was third in the 200-meter butterfly on Friday.

We didn't have to wait long for the next Hungarian success, it was true, it was practically an envelope, because the best domestic competitors jumped into the pool in the men's 1500 meter sprint. Dávid Betlehem, the winner, and Zalán Sárkány, who finished in second place, also swam personal bests.

"This would have made me a finalist at the summer World Cup, thank you very much to my family and friends who were here today and cheered me on. And of course to my teammates, with whom we swim approximately six times a day" -

said Bethlehem.

After that, Nándor Németh jumped into the pool in the 50-meter backstroke and finished in seventh place, and then came the final of the 200-meter fast, with two Hungarians, Nikolett Pádár and Panna Ugrai. In the end, the former finished fourth with 1:56.17, and the latter finished eighth, after improving his Olympic-level personal best (1:56.55) at the Fukoka World Championships by nine hundredths of a second. At the same time, the 17-year-old Pádár improved his European record for his age group.

Balázs Holló finished sixth in the men's 200-meter medley, and Nándor Németh finished fifth in the 100-meter sprint, nine hundredths of a second behind the podium.

In the last individual final of the day, Márton Richárd and Levente Balogh were interested in the 200-meter butterfly, the former, just like at the previous stop, in Athens, this time also came second, and the latter finished in eighth place.

In the final event, the men's 4×200 meter relay, the Australians won, the relay consisting of Balázs Holló, Kristóf Rasovszky, Nándor Németh, and Richárd Márton finished second.

M4Sport

Featured image: The eventual winner Kapás Boglárka before the final of the women's 400-meter medley at the last stop of the swimmers' World Cup series in Budapest at the Duna Arena on October 21, 2023. MTI/Robert Hegedüs