Betti Gets Set For Paris
Funkita athlete Bettina Fabian has returned home from Qatar after an incredible few days of racing in the open waters of Doha representing Hungary at the World Aquatic Championships.
The 19-year-old from Szeged in Hungary, finished 12th in the women’s 10km event in a time of 1:57:36:50, a major improvement from last year’s World Championships where she swam a 2:03:15.20. It was also extremely competitive considering the winning time by Sharon van Rouwendaal was 1:57:26.8, just 10 seconds separating the top 12 swimmers! To top of the meet, Bettina, or Betti as she is known, was a part of Hungary’s 4x1500m relay team which won bronze in an exciting race to the line.
Despite her health being in doubt a fortnight before the Championships, Betti’s incredible result means she will now be competing in Paris in the summer. With such a goal to work towards, it’s not surprising that she is fully focused on her open water swimming and any thoughts of a return to the pool, where she dabbled in freestyle, butterfly and medley events, are on hold (when we say dabbled she swam a 4:08.63 at Europeans in 2023 to finish 4th).
“I thought about that, but I’d like to focus on one thing this year. I qualified for the Olympics, so I don’t want to mess that up. I don’t want to try different things. This year is all about open water but next year we will see.”
Betti plans to compete regularly in open water events leading up to Paris.
“I believe this is a sport where you must gain a lot of experience. A way to get that is to participate in as many competitions as possible especially in open water because experience is everything.
“It will be intense. We will not do any taper for any other competitions which is a huge difference for me and we will participate in many competitions, but we will not take those seriously as we just want to focus on the Olympics.”
The end of the season will also mean the end of Betti’s current gap year. Having solely focused on her swimming the past 12 months, the former World Junior Champion will be moving to North Carolina to join the Wolfpack, having commited to North Carolina State University.
“I really wanted to be an artist but in high school I changed my mind to study biology. I still paint and draw sometimes, but I treat it more as a hobby. I was thinking of continuing biology but I’m undecided.”
Betti is excited to progress her studies alongside her swimming career to show other young swimmers in Hungary that it is possible for an athlete to achieve in both their sporting and academic endeavours.
“When I was a child, I really wanted to find a role model that I could imagine myself with. Someone who’s like me and has big goals, is a great athlete but a good person at the same time.
“I think it’s rare nowadays to find a role model who takes their studies seriously. Sport is becoming harder to process and manage schedules. I know it’s hard to take studies seriously, but I’d like to show it is possible,” Betti stated.
Betti is a huge fan of the latest Funkita swimwear collection.
“I really love the new collection! The swimsuits are so colourful and every time, I go to a different pool usually other people tell me ‘This swimsuit is so great, I love the colours.”
