Hubert Kós

Hubert Bela Kós (born 28 March 2003) is a Hungarian swimmer and a member of the University of Texas swim team. He is a world junior record holder in the 200 metre individual medley and an Olympic champion in the 200 metre backstroke. At the 2021 European Short Course Championships, he won the bronze medal in the 400 metre individual medley. At the 2022 European Aquatics Championships, he won the gold medal in the 200 metre individual medley. In 2023, he won the bronze medal in the 200 yard backstroke at the year's men's NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. In 2024, he won the gold medal in the 200 metre backstroke at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Early life Kós has family links to Cork in Ireland, and has visited there several times since he was a boy. He is a great grand nephew of John A Mulcahy who developed Waterville Golf Links and he enjoys travelling there to play golf. His paternal grandmother is Irish, while his paternal grandfather is Hungarian who emigrated to Ireland with his family at the age of 6 in 1946. Kós' father spent his childhood in Cork.

He has two younger siblings: a brother, Olivér, and a sister, Alison who are also swimmers. He studied at the American International School of Budapest.

Career 2021–2022 In the semifinals of the men's 200 metre individual medley event of the 2020 European Aquatics Championships, Kós set a new World Junior Record with a time of 1:56.99. He competed in the men's 200 metre individual medley at the 2020 Summer Olympics. At the 2021 European Short Course Championships, conducted at the Palace of Water Sports in Kazan, Russia, he won the bronze medal in the 400 metre individual medley with a time of 4:03.16. Two days earlier at the Championships, he placed fourth in the final of the 200 metre individual medley with a European junior record time of 1:52.87.

At the 2022 European Aquatics Championships, held in Rome, Italy, 19-year-old Kós won the gold medal in the 200 metre individual medley with a time of 1:57.72. Earlier in the competition, he placed fourth in the final of the 100 metre butterfly with a personal best time of 51.33 seconds. In November, at the 2022 Hungarian National Short Course Championships in Kaposvár, he set his first Hungarian record in the final of the 100 metre individual medley to win the national title with a time of 52.82 seconds.

2023 On 3 March, at the 2023 Pac-12 Conference Championships at King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, United States, Kós won the bronze medal in the 400 yard individual medley with a time of 3:37.68. The day before, he placed tenth overall, second in the b-final, in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 1:42.37. Day four of four overall, 4 March, he placed fourth in the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 1:39.21, which was 2.27 seconds behind gold medalist Destin Lasco of the California Golden Bears.

As a freshman (first year) at the 2023 NCAA Division I Championships later in the month, Kós started by taking third-place in the b-final of the 200 yard individual medley on day two with a personal best time of 1:41.61 to contribute to a b-final podium sweep by Arizona State Sun Devils swimmers (9th, 10th, 11th overall). The next day, he placed fourth in the evening final of the 400 yard individual medley, finishing 8.18 seconds behind gold medalist and Sun Devils teammate Léon Marchand with a time of 3:37.00, which followed a personal best time of 3:36.86 in the morning preliminaries that qualified him for the final ranking fourth. On the fourth and final day, he won the first NCAA Championships medal of his collegiate career in the 200 yard backstroke, winning the bronze medal with a personal best time of 1:37.96.

At the 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series in April in Westmont, United States, Kós placed fourth in the 100 metre backstroke on day three with a personal best time of 53.83 seconds. This followed a fourth-place finish in the 400 metre individual medley on day two with a time of 4:14.08. On the fourth and final day, he achieved a personal best time of 1:56.28 in the preliminaries of the 200 metre backstroke, qualifying for the final ranking first, before going on to win the final in a personal best and 2023 World Aquatics Championships qualifying time of 1:55.95, which was 1.02 seconds faster than the next-fastest competitor.

Swimming World Cup circuits The following medals Kós has won at Swimming World Cup circuits.

Edition Gold medals Silver medals Bronze medals Total 2021 1 2 3 6 2022 0 1 2 3 Total 1 3 5 9

Personal best times Long course metres (50 m pool) Event Time Meet Location Date Age Notes Ref 50 m backstroke 24.50 2025 World Aquatics Championships Singapore 2 August 2025 22 NR

Short course metres (25 m pool) Event Time Meet Location Date Age Notes Ref 50 m backstroke 22.64 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25 m) Budapest, Hungary 13 December 2024 21 NR 100 m backstroke 48.16 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup 2025 Toronto, Canada 25 October 2025 22 WR 200 m backstroke 1:45.12 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup 2025 Toronto, Canada 23 October 2025 22 WR 100 m individual medley 50.56 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup 2025 Toronto, Canada 23 October 2025 22 NR

Short course yards (25 yd pool) Event Time Meet Location Date Age Notes Ref 100 yd backstroke 42.61 2026 NCAA Division I Championships Atlanta, United States 27 March 2026 22 US 200 yd backstroke 1:34.13 2026 NCAA Division I Championships Atlanta, United States 28 March 2026 22 US 100 yd butterfly 42.54 2026 NCAA Division I Championships Atlanta, United States 26 March 2026 22 200 yd individual medley 1:37.91 2025 NCAA Division I Championships Federal Way, United States 27 March 2025 21 Legend: b – b-final; h – preliminary heat; US - U.S. Open record

Records

World records Short course metres (25 m pool) 100 metre Backstroke 200 metre Backstroke National records Short course metres (25 m pool) No. Event Time Meet Location Date Age 1 100 m individual medley 52.82 2022 Hungarian National Short Course Championships Kaposvár 17 November 2022 19

World junior records Long course metres (50 m pool) No. Event Time Meet Location Date Age 1 200 m individual medley 1:56.99 sf 2020 European Aquatics Championships Budapest 19 May 2021 18 Legend: sf – semifinal