The president of the Hungarian Swimming Association (MÚSZ) stated that the goal of the organizers of the short course world championships in December is to organize the best event of all time.
"We never want to give it any lower, the goal is "best ever". from the competitors, the public, the international federation," said Sándor Wladár, head of the MÚSZ, at Monday's press conference, which took place 100 days before the World Championships.
Sándor Wladár noted that since 2017, this will be the 12th world competition organized by the current team of the association. He added that with this we will have the "water Grand Slam", i.e. the adult and junior world championships in the large pool, as well as the short course world cup, as well as the short course world championship.
We were able to organize these competitions because Hungary has a special relationship with sports, said the president, emphasizing the government's support and the atmosphere created by the Hungarian fans.
The president emphasized that the best individual results are mainly expected from the athletes who made the finals at the Paris Olympics, the pentathlon gold medalists Hubert Kós and Kristóf Milák, the fourth-placed Nándor Németh, and the short-track specialist Sebasztián Szabó. The team will be selected after the national championship in Kaposvár in November.
Gábor Schmidt, the Deputy Secretary of State responsible for sports administration and development at the Ministry of Defense (MoD), pointed out that this will be the first swimming world championship in Hungary, which will take place after the move of World Aquatics to Budapest became known.
We can confidently say that with this the Hungarian capital has emerged as one of the most important water centers in the world, he declared.
The press conference was attended by Brent Nowicki, the executive director of the International Swimming Federation, who said that the 2017 and 2022 World Championships in Hungary were a huge success.
"The Duna Aréna is the place where the world's swimming family already comes home, one of the fastest pools in the world has been built, which is surrounded by thousands of spectators who are fans of swimming at every major event. It's no coincidence that the best competitors only speak of Budapest in superlatives," said Brent Nowicki.
The international ambassador of the WC will be Olympic silver and bronze medalist, world and European champion swimmer László Cseh.
"I have always loved short track races. You have to prepare for it a little differently, the start, rounds and underwater work play a much bigger role. These fights were the ones that drew attention to how much work needs to be invested in these things," said the now-retired classic, who indicated that
in the year of the Olympics, many people do not stop after the games, but only take a break at the end of December, so in his opinion, many people will be able to arrive in Budapest in good shape.
Dávid Szántó, the managing director of the WC organizing committee, revealed that the motto of the event will be Hold Your Breath. He added that the official ticket price for the event has already started, and tickets can be purchased for between HUF 1,200 and HUF 12,000. The organizers are offering 2,024 tickets to educational institutions and charities working with children.
One of these institutions is the Kaffka Margit Primary School, whose head of institution, Ádám Bekényi, said that this is a fantastic opportunity for the children, as they can get to know the stars that they saw on television during the Paris Olympics, for example.
MTI
Cover photo: Sándor Wladár, president of the Hungarian Swimming Association (MÚSZ), speaks at a press conference held 100 days before the start of the World Short Course Swimming Championships in December at the venue of the World Championships, in the Duna Arena in Budapest, on September 2, 2024.
Source: MTI/Zoltán Máthé
