Hungarian Swimmer David Betlehem Withdraws from the World Championships Due to NCAA Issues

The Hungarian Swimming Federation announced today via Instagram post that distance swimmer David Betlehem has withdrawn from the World Championships next week in his home country. The Hungarian federation is unusually candid in its public statements and today was no different with the statement detailing the issues that Betlehem had with his college team NC State, his decision to leave, and issues related to that decision as his reason for dropping out.

“Fáj a szívünk: Betlehem Dávid mégsem indul a vb-n💔❌

Nincs jó hírünk: olimpiai bronzérmes nyíltvízi úszónk, aki előbb a dohai világbajnokságon, majd a párizsi játékokon lett negyedik 1500 gyorson – az olimpián döbbenetes országos rekordokat döntve – meglehetősen bizarr okból volt kénytelen lemondani az indulásról a jövő héten kezdődő vb-n.
Amerikai egyetemén ugyanis a jövő évről szóló egyeztetések során kiderült, hogy semmilyen formában nem támogatják a nyíltvízi Világkupa-indulásait sem neki, sem Fábián Bettinának. Dávidék hiába érveltek azzal, hogy számukra a nyíltvíz kiemelten fontos – az ottani egyetemen kizárólag az NCAA és a medence számít… Aminek az lett a szomorú vége, hogy Dávidék hazajönnek, viszont a történtek miatt kint tartózkodásuk utolsó heteiben egyszerűen eltiltották őket az edzések látogatásától is, így viszont Dávid képtelen volt önmagához méltó módon felkészülni a vb-re… 😢
Jövőre visszatérnek – azt pedig pontosan tudjuk, hogy ki fog derülni: az egyetem vesztett sokkal többet, nem Dávidék!”

Translation:

“Our hearts ache: Dávid Betlehem is not participating in the World Cup after all💔❌

We don’t have good news: our Olympic bronze medal open water swimmer, who was fourth in the 1,500 freestyle first at the World Championships in Doha and then at the Paris Games – setting astonishing national records at the Olympics – was forced to cancel his participation in the World Championships starting next week for a rather bizarre reason.
During the discussions about next year at his American university, it was revealed that neither he nor Bettina Fábián will be supported in any way in the Open Water World Cup competitions. Dávidék argued in vain that open water is of the utmost importance to them – at the university there, only the NCAA and the pool matter… The sad end was that Dávidék came home, but because of what happened in the last weeks of their stay abroad, they were simply banned from attending training sessions. so Dávid was unable to prepare for the World Cup in a manner worthy of himself… 😢
They will return next year – and we know exactly what will be revealed: the university lost much more, not Dávidék!”

Bethlehem swims distance freestyle, competing in both the pool and in the open water events. At the Olympic Games this summer, he won the bronze medal in the 10k open water race, and he placed 4th in the 1500. He also placed 4th in the 1500, and 6th in the 10k at the world championships in Doha in February of this year. He also holds the national record in the men’s 1500 at 14:40.91 from his swim in Paris.

The instagram post outlines that this dual specialization is what led to his issues with NC State. Him and teammate Bettina Fabian were informed that they would not be allowed to compete in the Open Water World Cup next year due to their NCAA commitments with the post stating:

“at the university there, only the NCAA and the pool matter”

The first stop of the Open Water World Cup in Egypt directly conflicts with the ACC Championships, with the Cup happening February 21-22, and ACCs happening February 18-22.

Ultimately Betlehem and Fabian decided to leave North Carolina and return to Hungary. They were unable to leave immediately, however, and were unable to train during their last few weeks. This lack of training in the weeks leading up is why Betlehem has decided to pull out of the world championships.

World Champs Implications

Betlehem was entered in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyle events next week. While he was not seeded to final in the 400 or 800 events, he wasn’t out of contention for finals spots in either coming in at 11th in both.

He was the top seed in the 1500, and we predicted him to place 4th in the SwimSwam previews, with the potential to earn a medal with the right swim. The meet is also in his home country, which would have given him the home crowd advantage.

With Betlehem dropping out, Hungary still has 34 athletes entered in the meet, and some have serious medal chances, including Hubert Kos and fellow distance swimmer Zalan Sarknay.

He is not the first swimmer to drop out of this Worlds, and he joins a very elite list of athletes who are not competing this year including French Olympic champion Leon Marchand.

NC State

The Wolfpack losing both Betlehem and Fabian is a huge blow to their distance program this season. They did not compete at the Wolfpack Invite at the end of November, but their dual-meet times are still some of the fastest on the team this year. Bethlehem is still 4th in the 500, and every time above him, and most behind, were from their midseason meet. He is just over 2 seconds behind the fastest time on the team with his 4:16.62 from a dual meet with UGA. He still has the fastest time in the 1000 this season, although the event was not swam at the Wolfpack invite and is not a DI NCAA event.

Fabian is also a loss for the women’s team with her 500 free and 1000 free times still sitting at 2nd fastest this season.

At the end of their post, the Hungarian Federation stated that the two athletes would return to international competition next year:

“– and we know exactly what will be revealed: the university lost much more, not Dávidék!”