Hubert Kós has been named male athlete of 2025 by Hungarian sportswriters after a swashbuckling year that included global titles and world records.
Kós wasn’t able to accept the award in person at the gala dinner at the Opera House in Budapest as he’s in training in Texas. Instead, his mother Mária received the award on his behalf with Kós appearing on video link.
It was the second straight year that the 22-year-old has won the award and it came after a stellar 2026.
The Hungarian was instrumental in leading Texas Longhorns to the NCAA title at the end of March before he travelled to his national championships in Kaposvár.
He left there with nine gold medals – four individual and five relays – and a bronze for an overall haul of 10.
He moved on to Singapore for the World Championships where he opened his campaign with bronze in the 200IM behind Longhorns teammates Leon Marchand and Shaine Casas.
Kós then set a European record of 1:53.19 in the 200m backstroke, shaving 0.04 off Evgeny Rylov’s 1:53.23 standard from 2021. It was the sixth-fastest all-time and third swiftest in textile.
Kós dominated on the World Cup tour where he was crowned overall champion. He was the only male swimmer to win three events at each stop, sweeping all nine backstroke events and was second to Casas in the 100IM at all three stops.
He also rewrote the record books with short-course world records in the 100 back (48.16) and 200 back (1:45.12).