A day after Olympic champ Katinka Hosszu publicly called for the resignation of Hungary’s swimming federation president, one of Hungary’s other iconic swimmers, Daniel Gyurta, weighed in on the controversy.
Gyurta’s statement, which he posted to his Facebook page and provided to several Hungarian media outlets, is somewhat more measured than Hosszu’s, but agrees in general principle. Gyurta doesn’t explicitly call for resignations within the Hungarian federation, but does say Hosszu’s statement “has a lot of insight that is familiar to all swimmers, even if they cannot speak openly about it.”
Hosszu was sharply critical of the Hungarian federation’s support for national swimmers, saying her training conditions weren’t satisfactory. She called for federation president Tamas Gyarfas to resign, calling him a “damaging factor” in the federation. She also recounted an interaction she had with Gyarfas in 2008 in which the official advised Hosszu to stop swimming and retire.
Gyurta didn’t speak directly about Gyarfas, but did express his disappointment in the federation, especially with the nation set to host the 2017 World Championships. “It appears that there is no order around the Hungarian swimming federation,” he said (in a rough translation of the Hungarian), “and the saddest thing is that the swimmers – whom the whole thing should be about – will suffer.”
Gyurta’s full statement, translated from the original Hungarian, is below:
“I find it unfortunate that our beloved sport is a regular on the front page lately because of scandals. Unfortunately, Katinka’s statement yesterday has a lot of insight that is familiar for all swimmers, even if they cannot speak openly about it.
“It appears that there is no order around the Hungarian swimming federation and the saddest thing is that the swimmers – whom the whole thing should be about – will suffer. It is particularly harmful preparing for the 2017 World Championships, since it is a home world competition that could be a career peak for many athletes, myself included.
“I trust that decisions will be made within a short time regarding the management of the sport that will bring a change in this area, and that, more than personal interests, the interests of those who will splash in the pool will be taken into account.”
AB