Swimming

On Break From ASU, Zalan Sarkany Clocks Hungarian Record In SCM 800 Free

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By Retta Race on SwimSwam

Freestyle Stock by Jack Spitser

2023 HUNGARIAN SC CHAMPIONSHIPS

On the heels of David Betlehem nailing a new Hungarian national record in the 1500m free on night one of the Short Course Nationals, Zalan Sarkany followed suit in another men’s distance event.

Competing in the 800m free on the final night of action in Debrecen, 20-year-old Sarkany crushed a new lifetime best of 7:34.41 to take the gold. That got him to the wall with time to spare ahead of Betlehem who settled for silver in 7:37.28 while open-water ace Kristof Rasovszky rounded out the top 3 in 7:46.26.

As for Sarkany, the Arizona State University Sun Devil established a new Hungarian national record. His time tonight of 7:34.41 overwrote the previous standard of 7:39.21 Rasovszky put on the books at this same competition last year.

Splits for Sarkany’s big-tome performance are below:

Entering this competition, Sarkany’s personal best in this SCM 8free rested at the 7:43.06 he produced last year. That means Sarkany’s effort hacked nearly 10 seconds off his best-ever performance in this event. His time this evening would have placed 5th at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.

In September of this year, we reported that Sarkany is training in his home nation of Hungary this Fall/Winter and intends on returning to ASU next month.

On his performance this evening, Sarkany said post-race, “I prepared a lot for this championship and especially for this short course, I really wanted to pull it off.

“All my respect goes to Dávid (Betlehem) and Rasó (Kristófé Rasovszky), since they swam a two-hundred backstroke right in front of this, and I didn’t. It’s fantastic to train with them, it means a lot to me to be there among them.”

SwimSwam: On Break From ASU, Zalan Sarkany Clocks Hungarian Record In SCM 800 Free

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