2023 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
24-year-old Hungarian sprinter Nandor Nemeth swam his first best time in the 100 short course meter freestyle in more than two years and broke his own Hungarian National Record to finish 5th in the 100 free in his final race of the week in Romania.
Nemeth touched in 46.08, which broke his own Hungarian Record of 46.31 that was set at an International Swimming League meet in 2021. Prior to him, the record was Dominik Kozma’s 46.50 from the 2017 FINA Swimming World Cup.
Splits Comparison:
| New Hungarian Record | ||
| 2023 Euro SC Champs | 2021 ISL | |
| 50m | 22.01 | 22.49 |
| 100m | 24.07 | 23.87 |
| Total | 46.08 | 46.36 |
That best time for Nemeth in SCM follows a long course best time of 47.62 in the semis at the World Championships over the summer, ultimately adding time but placing 8th in the finals.
Hungary finished 11th in the 400 free relay at last summer’s World Championships, which will probably get them a spot at the Olympics, though not a guarantee. Nemeth swam that race, but they were without the long course National Record holder Kristof Milak in that meet. With two very young swimmers on that relay in Hubert Kos (20, split 48.83) and Daniel Mezaros (19, split 48.96), if Nemeth continues his development and Milak returns to full speed – which remains to be seen – the best Hungarian quartet is within range of a top 5 finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics (and a medal at the 2024 World Championships).
Previously in the week, Nemeth also swam a best time of 1:42.69 for 6th place in the 200 free. In the past 5 weeks, he’s improved that 200 free time by 1.34 seconds.
Hungary came away with 5 medals on the week in Otopeni: 2 silvers and 3 bronzes. That ranked them 12th by the traditional gold-silver-bronze medal sort. Nemeth didn’t swim on any of Hungary’s relays at the championships, though his presence unlikely was the difference between them and a medal in any of those events.
