61 Hungarian Athletes to Compete at European Championships in Home Country

2021 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Monday, May 10th – Sunday, May 23rd
• Budapest, Hungary
• Artistic – Diving – Open Water – Swimming
• Event Site

Full Hungarian European Championship Lineup

The host Hungarian Swimming Federation has announced that they will have 61 athletes competing in the swimming portion of the meet at the 2021 European Championships. The swimming portion of the meet kicks off next week at the Danube Arena in Budapest.

Hungary has had great success at the last two European Championship meets that have been held during Olympic years. In 2012, the country set a new best medal count record, winning 26 total medals, while in 2016 Hungary achieved a total of ten first-place finishes. In 2018, a non-Olympic year, the country totaled just four golds, although Hungary Swimming Federation Chairman Sandor Wladar said it was highly possible the country may perform better when competing on home soil.

The Hungarian team, on the men’s side, is highlighted by the trio of Kristof Milak, David Verraszto, and Laszlo Cseh.

Milak, who won his first European title in the 200 fly at the 2018 meet in Glasgow, is entered in more events than any other member of the Hungarian team, with a total of seven individual races currently slated across the week. The 200 fly world record holder is set to swim the 50, 100, 200, and 400 free, as well as the 50, 100, and 200 fly. He currently stands as the national record holder in the 100 free, 100 fly, and 200 fly. Earlier this year he won all of his scheduled events for the European Championships (except the 50 fly) at the Hungarians National Championships, held in the same pool that he will be racing in next week.

Joining Milak in attempting to defend his 2018 European Championship title will be David Verraszto in the 400 IM. Verrasz has won the event at the previous three championships and has made the podium six times in the event. The 400 IM is the only race that Verraszto is scheduled to swim at the meet.

The oldest member of the Hungarian team at 35, Laszlo Cseh will also only be competing in one race, the 200 IM. The European record holder in the event since the 2009 World Championships, Cseh will be looking to improve upon a 2018 European Championship meet where he only qualified for one final, earning an eighth-place finish in the 100 fly.

On the women’s side, Hungary is returning a pair of 2018 European champions in Katinka Hosszu and Boglarka Kapas.

Hosszu will look to defend her 200 IM title, while also swimming in the 400 IM and 200 fly. In the 200 IM, she will have the potential to improve upon her European record of six titles in a single event.

Kapas will be joining Hosszu in both the 200 fly and 400 IM, as well as competing in the 400 free. Earlier this year Kapas edged out Hosszu in the 200 fly at the Hungarian Championships with a time of 2:07.24, just off of her swim of 2:07.13 that won her gold in 2018.

2021 European Aquatics Championships – Hungarian Team

*Denotes athletes selected for 2021 Hungarian Olympic team