15-Yr-Old Oliver Papai Logs 3:45.16 SCM 400 Free Hungarian Age Record

2024 HUNGARIAN SC CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • Wednesday, November 6th – Saturday, November 9th
  • Kaposvar, Hungary
  • SCM (25m)
  • Day 1 Recap
  • Results

The 2024 Hungarian Short Course Championships continued from Kaposvar with another national age record biting the dust.

This time it was on the men’s side, with 15-year-old Oliver Papai firing off a new lifetime best of 3:45.16 to grab the gold and establish the new age standard in the 400m free.

Papai held off Nandor Negy who settled for silver just a hair back in 3:45.22 while open water ace Kristof Rasovszky clinched bronze in 3:45.82.

Teenager Papai actually logged a new age record out of the morning heats, earning the #2 seed in a new PB of 3:48.44. That overwrote Richard Marton‘s previous age standard for 15-year-olds which stood at 3:50.28 put on the books in 2014. That means Papai is Hungary’s first-ever swimmer of his age to dip under the 3:50 barrier and he did it in a very big way.

5Additional Notes

  • Marton was indeed in the water this evening taking on the men’s 200m fly where he got to the wall first in 1:53.12, capturing gold by over 2 seconds.
  • The men’s 100m back saw Adam Jaszo take the victory in 51.46, the sole outing of the field under the 52-second barrier.
  • Panna Ugrai hit a mark of 58.67 to hold off USC commit Dora Molnar who settled for silver in 58.92. Gerda Szilagyi was also under the minute barrier in 59.69.
  • Szebasztian Szabowho recently saw his SCM 50 fly world record get surpassed on the World Cup, notched a winning result of 21.49 to top the men’s 50m free podium. There was a tie in the women’s edition. Petra Senanszky and Kiara Viktoria Pozvai both clocked 24.89 for co-gold and Ugrai was next in 24.93 as the bronze medalist.
  • Ajna Kesely got the job done din the women’s 400m free, posting 4:07.33 to beat out Nikolett Padar‘s effort of 4:08.81. Veteran Boglarka Kapas rounded out the podium in 4:09.27 and the newly-minted 1500m free age group record holder from last night, Vivien Jackl produced 4:09.28 for 4th place.

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snailSpace
1 month ago

He will be turning 15 in December (allegedly) , so he is technically still 14, Hungary just doesn’t recognize short course NAGs for swimmers younger than 15.

snailSpace
Reply to  snailSpace
1 month ago

In certain events, I should have added.

Justin Pollard
1 month ago

Wow, men’s mid-distance/distance swimming looks to be entering a golden era of amazing competition. WR from Bobby Finke recently, Luka Mijatovic smashing the US 15/16 500 scy record, these kids Papai & Negy, the new kids from Tunisia Rahmouni & Jaouadi. If course they all need to continue to develop, but LA 2028 could feature a lot of young talent making names for themselves.

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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