Hungarian youth athletes bagged gold after gold at the NCAA swimming championship finals in Federal Way, Washington, over the weekend. Olympic, world, and European champion swimmer Hubert Kós celebrated his 22nd birthday on Friday, 28 March, with a gold medal in the 200-yard medley. On Saturday he went on to win both the 200- and 100-yard backstroke events, setting a world record in the former with a time of 1:34.21—more than a second faster than the previous record.
Kós competed at the NCAA championships as part of the University of Texas team, coached by Bob Bowman, which went on to win the title—with the Hungarian star playing a crucial role in the victory. With this achievement, Kós became a two-time NCAA champion, having previously won the competition in 2024 while representing Arizona State University.
Watch Kós’s world-record swim in 200 backstroke here:
‘Hubi’ is one of the most promising young talents in Hungarian sport. Having just turned 22 over the weekend, he already boasts an impressive list of accolades: a gold medal in the 200 m backstroke at the 2024 Paris Olympics, won in the same event at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, and another gold in the 200 m medley at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships in Rome.
As Hungarian Conservative reported, Hubert Kós was also named Hungarian Athlete of the Year in 2024. ‘It is good to be here in Hungary, but I was only given a 36-hour leave from my coach, Bob Bowman, so I am flying back to the United States on Tuesday to continue training,’ he told the press at the gala.
Although Kós—deservedly—stole the spotlight, other Hungarian swimmers also found success over the weekend at the NCAA finals. Zalán Sárkány successfully defended his title in the 1650-yard freestyle. The 21-year-old won with a time of 14:21.29, making him the third-fastest performer in the event’s history. Sárkány is currently representing Indiana University, which finished third at this year’s championships. Last year, like Kós, he competed for Arizona State University, playing a key role in securing the institution’s first-ever NCAA team title.
In the women’s final, held one week before the men’s, 18-year-old Minna Ábrahám, representing the University of South Carolina, swam a personal best and broke her university’s record in the 200-yard freestyle on 22 March, finishing in second place with a time of 1:40.56—just six hundredths of a second behind the winner.
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