Boglarka Kapas made a welcome return to the water following her sudden onset of illness earlier this week to claim victory in the 400IM at the Hungarian Championships in Kaposvar.
There were also wins for Nandor Nemeth, the morning after he set a new national 100 free record of 48.08 in the Thursday evening heats and Adam Telegdy and Katalin Burián in the men’s and women’s 200 back respectively with both producing best morning times.
Kapas had to withdraw from the final of the 200 fly – in which she is world champion – on Wednesday morning after feeling unwell and on Thursday she revealed she was diagnosed this summer with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
Photo Courtesy: Mike Lewis/ISL
But on Friday morning, the Olympic 800 free bronze medallist returned to the pool to stop the clock first in the longer medley in 4:42.06 following a duel with Viktória Mihályvári-Farkas.
Kapas told musz.hu:
“It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that I felt bad unfortunately, but I’ve gotten better and better since then, so I told my coach, I’ll take on the 400IM.
“I’m glad it worked out that way, both the victory, the time, and the fact that I managed to win a very good race.
“4:38 is my personal best, today (I’ve swum) 42, which is a peak plus three and four seconds
“I think that’s perfectly good, especially since 400 is so long and I’m mostly preparing for the 200 fly.”
David Verraszto won the men’s 400IM – in which he has won the last three European titles – in 4:15.71.
Nandor Nemeth: Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Nemeth couldn’t replicate his time from the prelims on Friday morning but claimed victory in 48.67 ahead of Kristof Milak (49.20).
He rued missing out on going sub-48 saying:
“The nine one-hundredths that were missing for 47 last night still hurt a bit because I could have known that morning being morning, the record won’t really get a chance now.
“Of course, we started to prepare for this, as we will have to swim well in the Olympics in the morning as well, and if I get to the semi-finals, I will still have to accelerate there by at least five tenths compared to my individual best in the morning if I want to reach the finals.
“From September onwards, we swim heavily in the morning for this very reason, but the team still has a lot of work to do, because for the time being, performance is still better in the afternoon.”
Fanni Gyurinovics won the women’s race in 55.45.
Telegdy added the 200 back title to his 100 crown with a fine performance to win in 1:56.82.
Splits; 27.57/57.45/1:27.39/1:56.82
His time was a morning PB which bodes well for Tokyo although he wasn’t impressed by his own race strategy.
He said:
“In the warm-up I wanted to go at least half a second better but this one is perfectly fine now.
“I’ve never swum 1:56 in the morning. Since I did very well in the 100, I was confident for the 200, maybe a little too confident, which is why I started so strongly.
“If I do it a little calmer and start six to seven tenths slower, the end is different. That’s why I’m a little unhappy, because otherwise the win and the morning time are perfectly fine.”
Katalin Burián won the women’s race in 2: 08.92 with splits of 30.40/1:02.82/1:35.75.
It was the best she has ever gone in the morning and reward for her strategy which saw her conserve energy during Thursday’s prelims.
She said:
“I set aside a bit in the afternoon to be good in the final and it worked because I’ve never swum such a good time in the morning.
“That is why I am very grateful to my coach, Zsolt Plagányi. I’m not in the right shape yet, I haven’t been at my best lately, but now everything is getting better and better.”
Christopher Rothbauer, of Austria, won the men’s 200br in 2:12.12 with David Horvath the first Hungarian home in 2:13.16.
Eszter Bekesi won the women’s race in 2:28.31.
Advertising: Shop At Swim360