Kos Cracks Banned Rylov's Euro Mark With 1:53.19, Coetze Right There With Him
“It was great ... I’ll be honest, I don’t feel great after that. I’ve had a tough schedule here, but I’m really, really happy with how things are going now. And I think [Texas coach Bob Bowman] might be happy with that time.” - Hubert Kos
Hubert Kos claimed Olympic gold just over 1:54 last year in Paris. This evening here at World titles in Singapore, he became a European trailblazer in 1:53.19 for the European title and a spot in the all-time top three fastest swims under current suit regulations.
A day earlier, he'd grabbed bronze in a podium sweep with his Texas Longhorns training partners Léon Marchand and Shaine Casas in a blistering 200m medley final, ahead of double Olympic silver medalist of the past two Games, Duncan Scott, a man who had his own last word on this evening:
Craig Lord
Craig Lord
Kos entered the backstroke fray knowing 1:54 wouldn't be good enough. Pieter Coetze, the South African fresh into the sub-52sec club in the 100m, a 51.85 continental mark landing him a debut world title, had grown in stature. And Kos had clearly put the work in to confirm the same applied to him.
An epic backstroke bout ensued, from with Coetze emerged with another African record: 1:53.36, for silver. The bronze meant a second medal of that hue for Yohann Ndoye Brouard, of France, in 1:54.62, just shy of the 1:54.47 in which he shattered the French record in his semi a day earlier.
Coetze had the edge of speed to half-way, inside the pace set by Aaron Peirsol on his way to a staggering and still-standing 1:51.92 World record in the swell of 43 World records set in another sea of asterisks at the Rome 2009 shiny suits circus before a ban on non-textile materials from January 1, 2010.
Off the wall at the 100m mark, Kos bolted, Coetze unable to give an instant response, and by the time they got to the last turn, the Hungarian, a 28.60 on the scorecard, the South African on 29.26, the Olympic champion had a decisive lead of half a second.
Coetze was not done, put in a cracking turn and stream line off the wall, which accounted for the bulk of his 0.33sec gain on his quarry in the hunt for home. Kos refused to yield, however. The work was in him to carry Kos to stop-clock flowing to a well-timed finish that kept the taller Coetze at bay by 0.17sec:
Had it not been for the intercalated Doha 2024 Worlds that has flooded the swimming history book with another ocean-load of asterisks and explainers and shredded the thread of meaningful history in the sport, Kos would have retained the global crown today, having first lifted it two years ago in Fukuoka.
Like many other leading swimmers, Kos bypassed Doha, held because governors felt more obliged to honour Covid catch-up contracts than caring about what that would mean for athletes current and the records tallies set by greats of the past but now overhauled by collections of medals hauled over a four-year period of a global showcase every single year.
In Singapore, you still hear the question being put and the answers broadcast around the world - is that the biggest, the most, the greatest... ? Reasonable in a world of reasonable comparison but pointless in a world without such.
Anyhow, what we know is that Kos and Coetze are the new powerhouses of the 100-200 on backstroke, and that Kos's win marked his third global honour, after his Olympic victory was followed by the World short-course title at home in Budapest at the end of a 2024 season hopefully never to be repeated: World long-course, Olympic Games and Wold short-course all within one year. Nuts.
Kos's win, marking a personal best by 0.95sec, confined to history a man already confined to history, Evgeny Rylov, his 1:53.23 from 2021 no longer the best European time. Rylov was banned for showing up at a Putin rally with a Z symbol supporting war, death and destruction in Ukraine and her citizens. We'll never know if he was coerced, but we do know what he did and what he said at the time as one of Putin's pawns in the Russian dictator's playbook of political propaganda.
Kos emerged to say:
“It was great ... I’ll be honest, I don’t feel great after that. I’ve had a tough schedule here, but I’m really, really happy with how things are going now. And I think [Texas coach Bob Bowman] might be happy with that time.”
Kos is now part of a rich Hungarian tradition that includes this fact: the USA, Germany and Hungary remain the only thee nations to have made the podium at every edition of the World Championships back to 1973.
Here's a fine sit-down with Kos that takes us deeper into the sea of who 'Hubi' is on the trail of giants such as Andras Hargitay, Tamas Darnyi, Krisztina Egerszegi, and Laszlo Cseh, one os Kos' childhood heroes. And here they are:
In the mixed zone, Kos said:
“I’ve given it all, left everything in the pool. Could have been better, but after the tough session I had yesterday with the 200 IM, this was all I could swim. A full second better than my (personal best), a new (European record). I know I should be more joyful but, excuse me to say this, but I threw up my lunch after the final, right in the mixed zone, so I’m in the middle of my recovery now.
“Of course, it’s good to win another world title. I’m proud of that, also to have two medals at Worlds, a first for me. But all I see now that the guys are getting better, faster, so I need to work really hard. They are closing the gap. I am getting closer to the world record, (and) both give me great motivation for the coming months.”
Coetze is now No 7 all-time, all suits, No 6 in textile. He warmed up for Singapore with gold at the Universiade in Berlin, where he cracked the 52-sec mark for the first time, by 0.01sec two weeks before the global showcse. Now he has the two biggest prizes of his career so far. Silver around his neck his evening, he said:
“It means a lot. I just wanted to get on the podium today and swim my best, and I had a big time drop from [semis]. So, I’m over the moon with that swim, even though I wanted the gold. And it was so close, but no complaints. I executed it how I wanted to. Hubert was just very good today, and he deserved the win tonight. I could see that he was ahead of me, and I felt like I was catching up in the end. If there were just 10 more meters, maybe I could have won, but if my grandma had wheels, she’d be a bicycle.”
Ndoye Brouard had his own two honours in the 100-200 back chase, Canadian Blake Tierney ket at bay by 0.47sec in the 200m today. Tierney had a great championship campaign: 1:55.17 national record in heats; 1:55.o3 national record in semi; 1:55.09 in the final.
Said the Frenchman:
“I’m very happy, because now the level of my 100 is the same as my 200. It’s the first time that I can be successful at the top level in both races.”
