Hubert Kós Sweeps Backstroke Events with Double World Record in Toronto

Hubert Kós set a world record in the 100-meter backstroke on Saturday, the final day of the third stop of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series in Toronto.

The 22-year-old Olympic champion triumphed with a time of 48.16 seconds, beating the record of 48.33 set by American Coleman Stewart in the summer of 2021. The Hungarian swimmer’s explosive form was evident right from the start, and halfway through the race he was more than three tenths of a second within the world record, with the imaginary line as his only rival, but even that could not keep up with him.

On Thursday, Hubert Kós also won the 200-meter backstroke with a world record.

He swept all three backstroke events at each of the three World Cup venues, as well as the overall victory — becoming the first Hungarian male swimmer in World Cup history to win the overall title.

Previously, this feat had only been achieved by Katinka Hosszú among Hungarian swimmers.

“What a finish! Three out of three this weekend, I swept all the backstroke events and ended the weekend in style. Thank you very much to the audience for their encouragement, I heard a lot of Hungarian voices from the stands, which helped a lot,” said Kós after the competition. He added that he is very proud of what he has achieved. As he explained, this is a very fast pool, and he is a little sad that the World Cup series has come to an end.

Over the three stops of the World Cup series, Kós collected an outstanding nine gold medals, one silver, and two bronze medals, along with two world records.

Final overall standings: