L-R: Dávid Betlehem, Bettina Fábián, Viktória Mihályvári-Farkas and Kristóf Rasovszky

Spectacular knockout races, challenging water conditions and a medal haul: Hungary’s open-water swimmers impressed at the European Aquatics Championships in the French capital.

For Bettina Fábián, the 3-kilometer knockout race began on a worrying note. Her preparations had been far from ideal. Training was canceled on Thursday, after oil slicks were discovered in the Seine. The Hungarian swimmer was also dealing with difficult memories from previous experiences. Two years ago, at the Paris Olympics, and more recently at a World Cup event, she contracted an infection after swimming in the Seine.

Her nerves showed in the first heat. Fábián missed a turn at a buoy and swam several meters off course. Despite the setback, she fought her way back and qualified for the next round in fourth place.

She was flawless in the semifinal and final, and in a thrilling finish, she narrowly beat Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci to take silver behind Germany’s Isabel Gose.

“I was probably the only one who could not put what happened two years ago out of my mind. Even this morning, there were more and more cases of vomiting and diarrhea among the teams. I was afraid during the race, and that is why I simply missed the turn,” Fábián admitted. After a six-month injury layoff, however, she said the joy of winning a medal ultimately outweighed everything else.

In the men’s competition, Dávid Betlehem was crowned European champion.

The 22-year-old had already won silver in the 10-kilometer and 5-kilometer races before claiming the title in the 3-kilometer knockout event, thus securing Hungary’s first gold medal of the championships.

In the 500-meter final, Betlehem opted for a daring but ultimately brilliant tactic. After rounding the buoy, he broke away from the leading group, and moved far to the left toward the middle of the Seine. “I thought, let the others believe that Dávid had lost his way and that they did not need to follow him,” Betlehem said with a smile after the race.

The plan worked. Avoiding the jostling and waves of the main group, the 22-year-old pulled away in the final meters and finished more than a body length ahead of his rivals. His compatriot Kristóf Rasovszky, the Paris Olympic champion, finished fifth after a photo finish.

The Hungarian team added another medal in the final open-water event, the mixed 4×1,500-meter relay.

Fábián, Mihályvári-Farkas, Rasovszky and Betlehem took bronze behind Germany and Italy.

In a tactical race, Kristóf Rasovszky stayed with the leaders during the third leg before anchor swimmer Dávid Betlehem faced Germany’s Florian Wellbrock and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri. Betlehem gave it everything in the final meters but was unable to overhaul the two Olympic champions, settling for third place in the sprint.

Hungary’s open-water swimmers thus wrapped up a demanding European Championships with excellent results:

• Dávid Betlehem: gold (3 km knockout), silver (5 km), silver (10 km), bronze (relay)
• Viktória Mihályvári-Farkas: silver (5 km), silver (10 km), bronze (relay)
• Bettina Fábián: silver (3 km knockout), bronze (relay)
• Kristóf Rasovszky: bronze (relay)

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Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Hegedüs Róbert