The Hungarian Swimming Federation announced today via Instagram post that distance swimmer David Betlehem has withdrawn from the World Championships next week in his home country. The Hungarian federation is unusually candid in its public statements and today was no different with the statement detailing the issues that Betlehem had with his college team NC State, his decision to leave, and issues related to that decision as his reason for dropping out.
“Fáj a szívünk: Betlehem Dávid mégsem indul a vb-n💔❌
Nincs jó hírünk: olimpiai bronzérmes nyíltvízi úszónk, aki előbb a dohai világbajnokságon, majd a párizsi játékokon lett negyedik 1500 gyorson – az olimpián döbbenetes országos rekordokat döntve – meglehetősen bizarr okból volt kénytelen lemondani az indulásról a jövő héten kezdődő vb-n.
Amerikai egyetemén ugyanis a jövő évről szóló egyeztetések során kiderült, hogy semmilyen formában nem támogatják a nyíltvízi Világkupa-indulásait sem neki, sem Fábián Bettinának. Dávidék hiába érveltek azzal, hogy számukra a nyíltvíz kiemelten fontos – az ottani egyetemen kizárólag az NCAA és a medence számít… Aminek az lett a szomorú vége, hogy Dávidék hazajönnek, viszont a történtek miatt kint tartózkodásuk utolsó heteiben egyszerűen eltiltották őket az edzések látogatásától is, így viszont Dávid képtelen volt önmagához méltó módon felkészülni a vb-re… 😢
Jövőre visszatérnek – azt pedig pontosan tudjuk, hogy ki fog derülni: az egyetem vesztett sokkal többet, nem Dávidék!”Translation:
“Our hearts ache: Dávid Betlehem is not participating in the World Cup after all💔❌
We don’t have good news: our Olympic bronze medal open water swimmer, who was fourth in the 1,500 freestyle first at the World Championships in Doha and then at the Paris Games – setting astonishing national records at the Olympics – was forced to cancel his participation in the World Championships starting next week for a rather bizarre reason.
During the discussions about next year at his American university, it was revealed that neither he nor Bettina Fábián will be supported in any way in the Open Water World Cup competitions. Dávidék argued in vain that open water is of the utmost importance to them – at the university there, only the NCAA and the pool matter… The sad end was that Dávidék came home, but because of what happened in the last weeks of their stay abroad, they were simply banned from attending training sessions. so Dávid was unable to prepare for the World Cup in a manner worthy of himself… 😢
They will return next year – and we know exactly what will be revealed: the university lost much more, not Dávidék!”
Bethlehem swims distance freestyle, competing in both the pool and in the open water events. At the Olympic Games this summer, he won the bronze medal in the 10k open water race, and he placed 4th in the 1500. He also placed 4th in the 1500, and 6th in the 10k at the world championships in Doha in February of this year. He also holds the national record in the men’s 1500 at 14:40.91 from his swim in Paris.
The instagram post outlines that this dual specialization is what led to his issues with NC State. Him and teammate Bettina Fabian were informed that they would not be allowed to compete in the Open Water World Cup next year due to their NCAA commitments with the post stating:
“at the university there, only the NCAA and the pool matter”
The first stop of the Open Water World Cup in Egypt directly conflicts with the ACC Championships, with the Cup happening February 21-22, and ACCs happening February 18-22.
Ultimately Betlehem and Fabian decided to leave North Carolina and return to Hungary. They were unable to leave immediately, however, and were unable to train during their last few weeks. This lack of training in the weeks leading up is why Betlehem has decided to pull out of the world championships.
World Champs Implications
Betlehem was entered in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyle events next week. While he was not seeded to final in the 400 or 800 events, he wasn’t out of contention for finals spots in either coming in at 11th in both.
He was the top seed in the 1500, and we predicted him to place 4th in the SwimSwam previews, with the potential to earn a medal with the right swim. The meet is also in his home country, which would have given him the home crowd advantage.
With Betlehem dropping out, Hungary still has 34 athletes entered in the meet, and some have serious medal chances, including Hubert Kos and fellow distance swimmer Zalan Sarknay.
He is not the first swimmer to drop out of this Worlds, and he joins a very elite list of athletes who are not competing this year including French Olympic champion Leon Marchand.
NC State
The Wolfpack losing both Betlehem and Fabian is a huge blow to their distance program this season. They did not compete at the Wolfpack Invite at the end of November, but their dual-meet times are still some of the fastest on the team this year. Bethlehem is still 4th in the 500, and every time above him, and most behind, were from their midseason meet. He is just over 2 seconds behind the fastest time on the team with his 4:16.62 from a dual meet with UGA. He still has the fastest time in the 1000 this season, although the event was not swam at the Wolfpack invite and is not a DI NCAA event.
Fabian is also a loss for the women’s team with her 500 free and 1000 free times still sitting at 2nd fastest this season.
At the end of their post, the Hungarian Federation stated that the two athletes would return to international competition next year:
“– and we know exactly what will be revealed: the university lost much more, not Dávidék!”
Edit:
NC State Coach Braden Holloway responded to SwimSwam’s request for a comment, and replied to the Hungarian Federation’s Instagram post saying this:
“I will not sit back and let this federation put our program and intentions in a bad light. Our history shows our great partnership with countries and we will continue to do so for all internationals moving forward. Absolutely none of this is true. Shame on this post. Based on our meetings with David….
The federation threatened them to return to Hungary- putting a lot of mental stress on the two of them. David and Betti decided it was too risky for them to stay with years ahead- so they left. David stopped swimming to take a break as his mental stress from the federation took a toll. We support open water. In fact, a fellow Hungarian was her second open water meet for her since arriving to campus (Portugal was her first). So kinda funny we “didn’t” support open water since she went to 2 of them in the fall. David didn’t attend any of them as he was sick and lost training time and decided not to go.
The federation stopped financial support for him and the future meets. They threatened to stop entering him in competitions. They also threatened to remove him for opportunities to rep Hungary if he didn’t come back.
The federation treated him poorly and it is a shame they didn’t give him a chance to explore the University system in the states. And when we inquired to speak with the federation about creating a plan to help in the ncaa format and for Hungary swimmingand open water- they declined to speak.And open water is something we have done and keep open for our athletes (Hannah Moore won a worlds medal with us during her time on the team).”
Hungarian swimming coach speaking up here.
Not surprised by the Hungarian federation bending reality for their own gains. Cheap shot at a good system (NCAA is still the best student-athlete competitive setup), and a cheap shot at the mentioned swimmers too.
Presented in a way by the federation that they gain support from the public by positioning the American system as a-kind of- an enemy of successful Hungarians.
This is how the governing body wants to establish a practice to keep talented swimmers away from further progressing their career abroad.
It is pity on the end of the Hungarian swimmers since they won’t be welcomed with the same openness like before at American universities and at the end… Read more »
If you really are a Hungarian swimming coach I believe you’d understand the support the Federation gives to its swimmers both those at home and those that go to the US. Hungarian swimming has benefitted greatly from that. You criticize the Federation for bullying their swimmers who go abroad, what seems more likely here is that in their rush to defend and support Bethlehem they reacted too quickly to what he told them. Then the NC State countered with what Bethlehem had told them. Neither checked the facts which I expect match neither sides understanding. It’s fashionable to hate on the Hungarian Swimming Federation, they’ve handled this communication badly, but in my direct experience they deserve a lot of credit.
I find it interesting SwimSwam didn’t contact Braden and provide him with an opportunity to address this article before posting it.
We did.
And then we updated it and did a separate article when he did eventually respond.
Seems like NC State has had some awful luck recently with huge internationals and it seems like no fault of their own. Between these 2, Masiuk, and Ponti, they’re really taking their licks.
Holloway’s side of the story is a lot more believable than the Hungarian federations, especially considering their history. Sounds like they just don’t want Hungarian athletes training stateside. I wonder if Kos is a big enough name the federation leaves him alone? When he started at ASU he was a more established athlete than Betlehem, but not by much.
Kos has the family money to even if he is being threatened, it doesn’t matter. Sarkany is not an Olympic medalist, so he doesn’t mean as much to the country. Kos also got to ASU without an Olympic or World medalist, then developed under bowman. Betlehem already has the accolades with Hungary, so it makes sense they don’t want him to leave.
well, Bowman is likely a big enough name for a pool swimmer and Kos had his biggest success after swimming under Bowman. David and Betti both rocked it this summer before joining Bernardino. And while Dino is well respected for American distance swimming, I would imagine the only thing that could make a Dino pool workout seem ‘reasonable’ would be an open water workout in the Hungarian federation.
You’ll find there’s few Federations do more for their swimmers than the Hungarian one. Ask a South African swimmer if they’d prefer the Hungarian system, the South Africans skip international competitions because they have no support from the federation. I understand the Federation paid all Hosszus expenses when she was on the World Cup circuit and she kept all the prize money. I’m sure Holloway was led to believe Bethlehem was threatened but I’m calling BS on that one. When Kos talks about his Federation he’s always grateful for the support he gets. He doesn’t look threatened to me 😂😂😂 laughable
Given the Hungarian federations stance on Milak and how Hosszú has spoken out against them before I find it hard to trust their take on this. There seems to be a super fervent sporting culture in the higher-ups there that acts like all an athlete does is owed to the country.
Absolutely not true. The Hungarian federation forced them to come home after Braden and staff at NC State did everything they could to help and support David and Betti with their open water goals. The federations statement to Braden and NC State is pure slander
Yeah I’m totally trusting the federation that threw Milak and his mental health instantly under the bus on this matter too! /s
This isn’t true at all….. hungary gave them an ultimatum and they had no option but to leave NC State against their will or else they would risk losing support and opportunities to race for their country.