World #2 Tamas Kenderesi Pulls Out of World Championships

Tamás Kenderesi of Hungary, the world’s second-ranked 200 butterflier in 2015, has withdrawn from the 2015 World Championships, according to a posting on his Facebook page.

While he may not yet be as much of a household name as some of the other superstars who have pulled out of this year’s World Championship meet (Agnel, Hagino, Alshammar, etc.), he is equally as significant after swimming a 1:54.79 at Hungarian Nationals at the end of June.

For the defending Youth Olympic Champion, this year’s World Championships were expected to be his coming-out ceremony to take the torch up in the long, co-ed tradition of Hungarian 200 butterfliers. After contracting mononucleosis, leading to enlargement of his lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, Kenderesi says that he has taken his doctor’s advice to withdraw from the World Championships.

Despite all of the general success in this event, the Hungarians have never won a men’s World Championship medal in the 200 fly, and just one Olympic medal (silver in 2008 from Laszlo Cseh).

Kenderesi is still just 18 years old, though he turns 19 in December leaving him just barely ineligible for the Junior World Record in the 200 fly.

The remainder of the Hungarian roster is below:

SWIMMING:

Women

Katalin Burian (200m back)

Katinka Hosszú (TBA)

Zsuzsanna Jakabos (50m freestyle, 200m medley, 400m medley)

Boglárka Kapás (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1500m fast)

Lilána Szilágyi (50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly)

Anna Sztankovics (50m breast, 100m breast, 200m breast)

Evelyn Verrasztó (200m freestyle, 100m butterfly)

Men

Gabor Balog (50m back, 100m back, 200m back)

Péter Bernek (200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, 200m back)

László Cseh (50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m medley)

Benjamin Gratz (400m medley)

Daniel Gyurta (100m breast, 200m breast)

Gergely Gyurta (800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle)

David Horvath (50m breast)

Tamás Kenderesi (200m butterfly)

Krisztian Takacs (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle)

Dávid Verrasztó (400m medley)