Hungary continued their impressive series of performances at the European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Championships Stari Grad 2025 with two gold medals from two events, as Kristof Rasovszky and Bettina Fabian became the inaugural 3km knockout sprint champions on thrilling day three on the Croatian island of Hvar.
The athletes looked much more composed and relaxed throughout the day, which was perhaps due to the exciting nature of the 3km knockout events, which make their debut on the European Aquatics open water swimming calendar following a successful senior introduction at the Ibiza stop of the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup a month ago.
In a change of order, the men were due to start first, with the women later in the day. The event would see the 24 athletes complete a 1500m swim, where the top 16 athletes would progress to the next round, before a 1000m swim would whittle them down to ten, and then a 500m sprint for the medals, with a 10 minute break in-between rounds.
With eight men scheduled to miss out on a place in the next round, there didn’t seem to be much urgency from the competitors, as they could gauge with relative ease the place they need to be to ensure progression.
That being said, it was still the trio of Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky, France’s Logan Fontaine, and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri who looked to take the field out, with all three of them having taken at least one medal from the 5km and 10km events in the previous two days.
Although it was Rasovszky who was ahead at the halfway stage of the 1500m race, the Italians also looked well-up for a battle, with Matteo Diodato and Davide Marchello joining the leaders as they turned for the final straight.
As the leaders realised they were able to comfortably ensure their progression to the next round, the field began to converge into the final funnel, with the majority touching within five seconds of the leader, Paltrinieri.
With eight athletes eliminated, the remaining 16 lined up for the 1000m race, after five minutes of rest. Once again, those athletes who did well in the 1500m race were at the front down the opening straight, with the Hungarians of Rasovszky and Betlehem going out alongside Paltrinieri – emulating the 5km podium from yesterday’s race.
The main difference in this race was how the trio were battling. Although there were no medals up for grabs, there did seem to be a desire from them to make a statement going into the 500m.
With the final buoy to go around on the home straight, the Hungarians were the only swimmers to go left – coming into the funnel wide, which allowed Paltrinieri hug the wall of the bay and touch the pads in first, with Diodato and Marchello making it an Italian 1-2-3 as the top-ten had just over five minutes to prepare for a 500m dash for the medals.
With the final circuit providing short straights, the turns around the buoys would be even more important for those wanting to take a step on the podium in the Stari Grad square.
The 10 athletes: Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA); Davide Marchello (ITA); Matteo Diodato (ITA); Kristof Rasovszky (HUN); Marc-Antoine Olivier (FRA); Logan Fontaine (FRA); David Betlehem (HUN); Matan Roditi (ISR); Arne Schubert (GER); and Sacha Velly (FRA) all took to the pontoon waiting for the race to begin.
That being said, it was still the trio of Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky, France’s Logan Fontaine, and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri who looked to take the field out, with all three of them having taken at least one medal from the 5km and 10km events in the previous two days.
Although it was Rasovszky who was ahead at the halfway stage of the 1500m race, the Italians also looked well-up for a battle, with Matteo Diodato and Davide Marchello joining the leaders as they turned for the final straight.
As the leaders realised they were able to comfortably ensure their progression to the next round, the field began to converge into the final funnel, with the majority touching within five seconds of the leader, Paltrinieri.
With eight athletes eliminated, the remaining 16 lined up for the 1000m race, after five minutes of rest. Once again, those athletes who did well in the 1500m race were at the front down the opening straight, with the Hungarians of Rasovszky and Betlehem going out alongside Paltrinieri – emulating the 5km podium from yesterday’s race.
The main difference in this race was how the trio were battling. Although there were no medals up for grabs, there did seem to be a desire from them to make a statement going into the 500m.
With the final buoy to go around on the home straight, the Hungarians were the only swimmers to go left – coming into the funnel wide, which allowed Paltrinieri hug the wall of the bay and touch the pads in first, with Diodato and Marchello making it an Italian 1-2-3 as the top-ten had just over five minutes to prepare for a 500m dash for the medals.
With the final circuit providing short straights, the turns around the buoys would be even more important for those wanting to take a step on the podium in the Stari Grad square.
The 10 athletes: Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA); Davide Marchello (ITA); Matteo Diodato (ITA); Kristof Rasovszky (HUN); Marc-Antoine Olivier (FRA); Logan Fontaine (FRA); David Betlehem (HUN); Matan Roditi (ISR); Arne Schubert (GER); and Sacha Velly (FRA) all took to the pontoon waiting for the race to begin.
A slightly larger number of athletes took part in the women’s event in the afternoon, with the 26-strong field vying to get into that elusive 16 that compete in the second round.
With most of the big names from the previous two days lining up, there was action from the off. Immediately, the field split into two prongs, with Poland’s Klaudia Tarasiewicz – who took gold in the European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Cup earlier this month – setting the pace on the inside line, which proved to be the better of the two as they had the optimal distance heading into the firs turn buoy. She was flanked by Hungary’s Bettina Fabian and Italy’s 5km gold medallist Ginevra Taddeucci, though, with the latter athlete making a dominant statement by putting her head down and dropping the field as they headed back towards the bay.
As they headed into the touchpads, Taddeucci was challenged by France’s Clemence Coccordano for the top-spot, and she let her go – being comfortable to settle for what was an eventual second place, and more than enough to see the pair of them through to the 1000m race, with Italy’s Antonietta Cesarano in third.
Behind them, there was a mad dash to be inside that magical 16th place, and it was Turkey’s Su Inal who managed to throw her arm over to get to the pads, just 0.25 seconds ahead of 17th, as ten athletes missed out.
Fabian spoke to European Aquatics on her story of a difficult 10km, meaning a step away from the 5km race, before coming back to win the 3km:
“It feels really good,” she said. “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.”
Silver medallist Fernandez was eager to speak about the race itself, which has crowned European senior medallists for the first time.
“Yeah, it’s my second knockout. The first was in the World Cup in Ibiza. I think this event is very entertaining for us and for the people who is watching. It’s very intense because you have to be all the time swimming very fast and you have 10 minutes to rest.”
