{"id":335868,"date":"2018-11-02T04:00:16","date_gmt":"2018-11-02T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=335868"},"modified":"2018-11-01T18:07:00","modified_gmt":"2018-11-02T01:07:00","slug":"kristof-rasovszky-crowned-2018-male-open-water-swimmer-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/kristof-rasovszky-crowned-2018-male-open-water-swimmer-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Kristof Rasovszky Crowned 2018 Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

2018 Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year: Kristof Rasovszky<\/h2>\n

For the past two years, the Netherlands\u2019 Ferry Weertman has reigned as the male Open Water Swimmer of the Year, winning gold in the 10-kilometer race at the 2016 Olympics and again at the 2017 World Championships. But in 2018 at the European Championships, a young man pushed Weertman to the brink in the 10K and won two gold medals of his own in the 5K and 25K.<\/p>\n

That man\u2014Kristof Rasovszky<\/strong> of Hungary\u2014has now taken the title of top open water swimmer in the world.<\/p>\n

When he was a teenager, Rasovszky was already an Olympian, but in the pool. He swam the 1500 meter free at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, where he finished 35th, and he improved to 24th in the event a year later at the World Championships. But it was two weeks before that when he realized his true talents in swimming were outside the confines of lane lines.<\/p>\n

Strongly encouraged to try open water after his earlier pool accomplishments, Rasovszky made his debut at those World Championships in Budapest and posted surprising results for a rookie swimmer in a new medium. He finished seventh in the 5K race, missing a medal by 5.6 seconds, and he improved to fifth in the 10K, just 2.5 seconds away from the podium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned one simple thing while racing at home in Balatonfured,\u201d Rasovszky said. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough to be in very good shape, but you need to be able to be in shape to race according to your own tactics.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To learn more about Rasoszky and his many accomplishments, check out the November 2018 issue of\u00a0Swimming World Magazine<\/em>, available now!\u00a0\u00a0Swimming World subscribers can download this issue in the\u00a0Swimming World Vault<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\"nov-18-cover\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

[PHOTO BY ANDREA STACCIOLI\/DEEPBLUEMEDIA\/INSIDEFOTO]<\/h3>\n

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