Courtesy of Way Funky Company, a SwimSwam partner.
19-year-old Hungarian swimmer Bettina Fabian secured Hungary a quota spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics women’s 10km open water event with her 12th place at the 2024 World Aquatic Championships.
Her time of 1:57:36:50 took almost six minutes off her swim at the 2023 World Championships and was competitive in a field where 10 seconds separated the top 12 swimmers, with the winning time set by Sharon van Rouwendaal of 1:57:26.80.
Fabian is set to fill the position for Hungary, as well as being part of the country’s strong 4x1500m relay team which won bronze in Doha.
Fabian wears Funkita Twisted One Piece in Sand Storm
Born and raised in Szeged, Fabian moved to Budapest in 2021 to train and race with the Ferencvárosi Torna Club. Competing in the pool she swam the 400m freestyle at the 2023 World Championships and swam 4:08.63 at the 2023 European Championships to finish 4th. However, it’s not surprising that she is now fully focused on her open water swimming and any thoughts of a return to the pool are on hold.
“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.”
Fabian has set a busy schedule for herself leading up to Paris entering as many open water events as she can attend.
“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.”
Fabian wears Funkita Strapped In One Piece in Learn To Fly
The end of the season will also mean the end of Fabian’s current gap year after which she will be moving to North Carolina to join the Wolfpack, having committed 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.”
She will be progressing her studies in the US alongside her swimming career and believes it will 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,” Fabian stated.
Fabian wears Paradise Please Funkitas
Fabian is sponsored by Australian swimwear brand Funkita and loves the swimwear that the company offers for her hours in the water.
“I just love everything about Funkita and every new collection that is released. The swimsuits are so colourful and every time, I go to a different pool other people tell me ‘This swimsuit is so great, I love the colours.”
We’re looking forward to seeing Fabian take to the start line in Paris and watching her progress with the Wolfpack when she joins the team in 2025.
Fabian wears Some Zoo Life from the latest Funkita collection
To see the entire new Funkita Swimwear collection visit www.funkita.com