World champion swimmers coming to Budapest – 2018 FINA Swimming World Cup

Budapest, 2017. július 30. A gyõztes Hosszú Katinka a nõi 400 méteres vegyesúszás döntõje után a 17. vizes világbajnokságon a Duna Arénában 2017. július 30-án. MTI Fotó: Kovács Tamás

Budapest will be hosting the fourth leg of the 2018 FINA Swimming World Cup series from 4th October to 6th October. Since the Hungarian capital city successfully hosted numerous FINA swimming events, it has fair chances of becoming one of the most popular venues of the World Cup, argues Duna Aréna Press.

Dávid Szántó, the head of the organising committee has revealed that thanks to the unforgettable events hosted by Duna Aréna, not just one but seven star-swimmers from the 2017 World Championships will participate at the 2018 World Cup, including Katinka Hosszú, the best swimmer of the Hungarian team.

Hosszú excelled at the 200m and 400m medley numbers at the 2017 FINA World Championships.

Fans are welcome to cheer for the Swedish Sarah Sjöström (1st places at the 50m freestyle, 50 and 100m butterfly-stroke numbers, women), the Russian Júlia Jefimova (1st place at 200m breaststroke, women), the Spanish Mireira Belmonte (1st place at 200m butterfly-stroke, women), the South-African Chad le Clos (1st place at 200m butterfly, men), the British Benjamin Proud (1st place at 50m butterfly, men), and the Russian Anton Chupkov (1st place at 200m breaststroke, men).

The number of events that Hosszú and Sjöström will participate in is yet to be revealed, along with the ones in which they will compete against one another. However, the head coach of the Hungarian swimming club, Dr Csaba Sós, argues that

it is very likely that the Hungarian and Swedish swimmers will both participate in the 200m freestyle and the 100m medley, thanks to the 25 metres long swimming pool that Duna Aréna can provide.

Szántó said that it would be impossible to tell how many records will be broken at the Budapest leg but it is already an enormous achievement and honour for the Duna Aréna to welcome representatives from more countries than the other venues do. The following list contains an overview of the number of participants and number of countries represented:

Budapest – 39 nations, 298 swimmers (out of which 195 are Hungarians)
Kazan – 23 nations, 174 swimmers
Doha – 23 nations, 131 swimmers

Among the 195 excellent Hungarian contestants, one will find names like Boglárka Kapás, Zsuzsanna Jakabos, Evelyn Verrasztó, Péter Bernek, László Cseh, Dominik Kozma, Tamás Kenderesi, Nándor Németh and Dávid Verrasztó. The benefit of Budapest hosting the fourth leg is that it can be represented in greater numbers, and naturally, it is a great opportunity for these sportsmen and -women to prove themselves in the pools and to win recognition for their country.