Conflicting Reports Emerge as International NC State Athletes Withdraw from World Championships Due to NCAA Issues

“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!”

he first stop of the Open Water World Cup in Egypt clashes directly with the ACC Championships, taking place from February 21-22, while the ACCs are scheduled from February 18-22.

As a result, Betlehem and Fabian decided to leave North Carolina and return to Hungary. However, they were unable to depart immediately and couldn’t train during their final weeks. This lack of training in the lead-up to the event is why Betlehem chose to withdraw from the World Championships.

World Championships Implications Betlehem was set to compete in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyle events. Although he wasn’t seeded to make the finals in the 400 or 800, he was still in contention for both, ranking 11th in each.

He was the top seed in the 1500 and had been predicted to place 4th in SwimSwam’s previews, with a shot at a medal if he swam well. Competing in his home country would have given him a home crowd advantage.

Despite his withdrawal, Hungary still has 34 athletes entered, with several, including Hubert Kos and fellow distance swimmer Zalan Sarknay, having strong chances for medals.

Betlehem is not the only swimmer to withdraw from the World Championships, joining an elite group of athletes, including French Olympic champion Leon Marchand, who will not compete this year.

NC State The loss of both Betlehem and Fabian is a significant blow to NC State’s distance program this season. Although they did not compete at the Wolfpack Invite in late November, their dual-meet times remain among the fastest on the team. Betlehem is still 4th in the 500 free, with the times ahead of him and most behind coming from their midseason meet. His 4:16.62 from a dual meet with UGA puts him just over 2 seconds behind the fastest time on the team. He also holds the fastest time in the 1000 free this season, although the event was not contested at the Wolfpack Invite and is not a DI NCAA event.

Fabian’s absence is also a setback for the women’s team, as her 500 and 1000 free times remain the 2nd fastest this season.

In their statement, the Hungarian Federation confirmed that both athletes would return to international competition next year.

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

NC State Coach Responds to Claims About David Betlehem and Betti Fabian

Earlier today the Hungarian swimming federation posted an inflammatory statement on Instagram explaining the reasoning behind national record holder David Betlehem withdrawing from the World Championships next week.

In the post, the Federation detailed “issues” Betlehem and his teammate Betti Fabian were having with the NC State coaches regarding their ability to swim at the Open Water World Cup next year. They claimed the athletes were told they would not be allowed to compete, and, when they decided to leave, they were banned from training causing Betlehem to feel the need to pull out of the World Champs due to lack of traning.

Braden Holloway, the head coach at NC State responded to SwimSwam’s request for comment, and took it a step further by commenting on the federation’s instagram post, saying this:

“I will not sit back and let this federation put our program and intentions in a bad light. Our history shows our great partnership with countries and we will continue to do so for all internationals moving forward. Absolutely none of this is true. Shame on this post. Based on our meetings with David….

The federation threatened them to return to Hungary- putting a lot of mental stress on the two of them. David and Betti decided it was too risky for them to stay with years ahead- so they left. David stopped swimming to take a break as his mental stress from the federation took a toll. We support open water. In fact, a fellow Hungarian was her second open water meet for her since arriving to campus (Portugal was her first). So kinda funny we “didn’t” support open water since she went to 2 of them in the fall. David didn’t attend any of them as he was sick and lost training time and decided not to go.

The federation stopped financial support for him and the future meets. They threatened to stop entering him in competitions. They also threatened to remove him for opportunities to rep Hungary if he didn’t come back.
The federation treated him poorly and it is a shame they didn’t give him a chance to explore the University system in the states. And when we inquired to speak with the federation about creating a plan to help in the NCAA format and for Hungary swimming and open water- they declined to speak.

And open water is something we have done and keep open for our athletes (Hannah Moore won a worlds medal with us during her time on the team).” 

Betti Fabian competed at the final leg of the Open Water World Cup in Saudi Arabia on November 22-23, 2023, opting to miss the NC State Invite to participate. She finished 5th in the 10k open water event with a time of 1:59:25.20.

Hannah Moore, the 2019 World Championships bronze medalist in the 5km open water event in Gwangju, transferred to NC State as a sophomore in January 2016. She completed her collegiate career with the Wolfpack, graduating in 2018, and stayed with the team until her retirement in December 2019. Moore was an 8-time All-American with NC State, with her highest NCAA finish being 3rd in the 1650 in March 2018.

This is not the first time the Hungarian Swimming Federation has faced criticism. They have dealt with controversies involving star swimmer Katinka Hosszu, who recently called for the resignation of the federation’s leadership. Hosszu criticized how the federation, particularly National Team Coach Csaba Sos, handled Kristof Milak’s break from swimming ahead of the recent Olympic Games.