Kristof Rasovszky & Bettina Fabian Sprint To Gold In Croatia
Kristof Rasovszky claimed his second title with Bettina Fabian making it a Hungarian double in the inaugural 3km knockout sprints on the penultimate day of the European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Championships in Stari Grad, Croatia.
Twenty-four men stepped up to complete a 1500m swim, where the top 16 athletes would progress to the next round, before a 1000m swim would whittle them down to 10, and then a 500m sprint for the medals, with a 10-minute break between rounds.
Rasovszky and David Betlehem were first round the buoy as the Olympic 10k champion maintained his pace and held off a late charge from Logan Fontaine of France to touch the panel first in 5:04.04 to 5:04.66. Betlehem was third in 5:05.20.
It was Rasovszky’s third medal after he claimed his first European gold in the 10k as well as bronze in the 5k and he told European Aquatics after the race: “It felt really good. I know that in the first one and maybe in the second one I can save some energy, so the first one was quite easy, but in the second one it was really hard to count on whether you are in the first ten or not, so I didn’t want to make it exciting for myself. I know that if I get a good start and push really hard, I can be on the podium, and I managed it. I saw David [Betlehem] at the first turning buoy and noticed that we are in the first two, so I hoped we can come in a Hungarian 1-2, but Logan [Fontaine] made it a bit harder than we expected. It’s still really good to be again on the podium with David as well.”
(l-r): Paula Otero Fernandez, Bettina Fabian & Lea Boy: Photo Courtesy: Antonella Mannara, European Aquatics
A 26-strong field was whittled down to 10 for the women’s 500m decider. Fabian got the best start being the only athlete to fully work her underwaters and instantly put two metres between her and the chasing pack.
At the halfway turn, she did start to slow up, but the three body-lengths she put between her and Spain’s Paula Otero Fernandez in second would be hard to close. The pack started to cut the deficit, but the lead was never realistically in doubt as the 20-year-old stormed to take her first medal of the competition in 5:19.83, four seconds ahead of Fernandez (5:23.83) with Lea Boy pipping 5k champion Ginevra Taddeucci by 0.19 in 5:25.22.
It was a welcome outcome for Fabian who missed out on a medal in the 10k after being obstructed by Maria De Valdes Alvarez late on with the Spaniard DQd in the longest race. The Hungarian said: “It feels really good. I really wanted to achieve at least one individual gold medal at this race and I’m happy that I won this knockout race. Unfortunately, the 10km was a pretty unlucky race for me and I got injured. That’s why I had to step out from the 5km.
“It was a really hard race. I think it’s going to be a harder race at the World Championships in Singapore, so I really have to prepare for that, especially because of the water temperature. It’s going to be really hot in there, but I felt good here. Also I didn’t race yesterday so I had more energy than the other girls.”
The final day of the European Open Water Championships sees the 4x1500m team relay decided on Saturday.
