Hubert Kos Caps Standout Year With World Title at Home in Budapest
During both previous occasions in which a global championship meet took place at Duna Arena, a Hungarian was among the stars of the competition, much to the delight of the biased fans in attendance. In 2017, Katinka Hosszu swept the individual medley events for the third consecutive World Championships, and five years later, Kristof Milak took down his own world record in the 200 butterfly before adding 100-meter gold as well.
This time, in the first Short Course World Championships held in Budapest, the crowd favorite was Hubert Kos, the 21-year-old who has blossomed into the world’s premier 200 backstroker over the last two years. After Kos finished three hundredths behind Russian teenager Miron Lifintsev in the 100 back final, he dominated the eight-lap event, winning by more than three seconds over silver medalist Lorenzo Mora. His time of 1:45.65 broke Ryan Lochte’s 14-year-old meet record and came up just two hundredths shy of the world record.
Joining the group of Hungarian stars meant a great deal to Kos, who recalled watching the competition in the stands at the inaugural Budapest meet in 2017.
“Winning in front of our fans — this mattered only this evening, nothing else. To live the joy together, to give them back something for their outstanding support over the years,” Kos said. “In 2022, I swam here but I wasn’t good enough to make a splash. Now I came here to win and now I did, and it’s a fantastic feeling.”
Hubert Kos shows off his Olympic gold medal — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
The dominant performance finished off a year in which Kos has asserted his status as the world’s dominant performer in his signature event, quite a jump for a swimmer best known for his medley skills when he teamed up with coach Bob Bowman at Arizona State University in early 2023. It was only months after that when Kos came from behind to upset Ryan Murphy to win the world title in the 200 back. The following college season, Kos played a central role in Arizona State’s team championship, although he could not keep pace with his rivals, including Destin Lasco, to win an individual title.
But on the sport’s most prestigious stage, entering as a gold-medal favorite, Kos came through. In the Olympic final of his signature event, Kos overcame a desperate early surge from Greece’s Apostolos Christou to finish more than a half-second clear of the field and reach the top of the podium. When Milak won gold in the 100 fly two days later, Hungary had multiple individual golds in men’s swimming for the first time in 28 years.
Now, Kos is competing for the University of Texas, having followed Bowman to the new coach’s new college home. The Longhorns men’s team has put itself back into the national conversation, and even with a roster including fellow short course world titlist Luke Hobson, rising sophomores Rex Maurer and Will Modglin and incoming sprinter Chris Guiliano, Kos is the most talented, accomplished and dependable swimmer on the roster.
Moreover, he moves into the new quadrennium targeting the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in position for extended success in the backstroke events. He is at an age when male swimmers tend to maintain their trends of improvement, and future contention over 100 meters is a strong possibility. Kos placed 10th in the 100 back in Paris, but he did swim a best time of 52.78 to lead the way through prelims.
Barring any shocking developments, Kos will be heavily favored for a repeat world title in the 200 back in 2025, when World Aquatics’ signature long course meet moves to Singapore. Two years after that but before he returns to the Olympic level, another Budapest championship meet will provide Kos another chance for hometown glory.
