Hungary tops Europe in swimming

Host nation Hungary finished on top of the medal table at the 31st European Swimming Championships in Debrecen, eastern Hungary with nine gold, ten silver and seven bronze medals, ahead of Germany and Italy.

The altogether 26 gold medals – just as the nine first places – constitute a record in the history of Hungarian participation at European swimming championships. The last time Hungary finished on top of the medal podium was in 1954 in Turin, Italy. With these collected in Debrecen, Hungary has a collection of 75 European gold medals.

Among the individuals, it was also a Hungarian, world champion and three times Olympic silver medalist László Cseh who won the most medals at this competition in Debrecen. 26-year-old Cseh collected six medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze medals) and took his part in three of the Hungarian national records achieved at this competition.

Cseh won the men’s individual medley both at 200 and 400 meters as well as the 200-meter butterfly event (the same three events he won silver medals in at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing). He came in second in 100-meter butterfly and was member of the Hungarian team that finished third both in the 4×200-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relay. Now, he is the most successful swimmer in the history of European Championships held in traditional 50-meter long pools with 16 medals (11 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze).

Hungary also had a triple winner in the women’s field, as 23-year-old Katinka Hosszú won the same three events as Cseh. She was also member of the bronze medalist Hungarian team in the 4×200-meter medley relay. Hosszú, a 2009 world champion, is a psychology student at the UCLA in the United States.

The 4th Hungarian gold among the women was produced in the 800-meter freestyle event by 19-year-old Boglárka Kapás who won two junior Olympic titles in Singapore in 2010.

23-year-old Olympic silver medalist Dániel Gyurta won the men’s 200-meter breaststroke event and was member of the Hungarian medley relay team at 4×100-meters. Gyurta is also two times world champion.

In the men’s 800-meter freestyle, Gergõ Kis stepped onto the top of the medal podium, repeating the achievement he had in Eindhoven, Holland in 2008. He also collected two silver medals by finishing second in the 400- and 1,500-meter individual events.