László Cseh

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László Cseh
LaszloCseh-0061.jpg
Personal information
National team Hungary
Born (1985-12-03) 3 December 1985 (age 35)
Budapest, Hungary
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
WebsiteCsehLaszlo.hu
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesIndividual medley, butterfly, backstroke
ClubBp. Spartacus ( –2005)
Kőbánya SC (2005–14)
Egri ÚK (2015–19)
BVSC-Zugló (2019– )
CoachMiklós Kiss
György Túri (1997–2014)
Zsolt Plagányi (2014– )[1]
Medal record

László Cseh (pronounced [ˈlaːsloː ˈt͡ʃɛ]; born 3 December 1985) is a Hungarian competitive swimmer and six-time Olympic medalist. He is a 33-time European Champion. His father, László Cseh Sr., also represented Hungary at the Olympics in swimming.

Personal[]

The son of an Olympic swimmer, Cseh started swimming competitively at an early age. Cseh is coached by György Turi and Zoltán Nemes. He holds a scholarship with the Olympic Solidarity programme.

Swimming career[]

At the 2003 World Championships, Cseh captured a silver medal in the 400 m individual medley, his first medal at the highest level. He also finished 7th and 13th in the 100 and 200 metres backstroke, all in national record time.

Kazan 2015

2004 Olympics[]

Cseh represented Hungary at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece in the 400 m individual medley, 100 m backstroke, and the 200 m individual medley, despite having broken his ankle in the training camp on a stairway a couple of weeks before.[citation needed] Nevertheless, he won a bronze medal in the 400 m individual medley as well as coming in fourth in the 200 m individual medley, and sixth in the 100 m backstroke.

At the 2005 World Championships, Cseh not only improved his national records, he excelled further up in the world rankings, and entered the meet as a serious medal contender in 3 events. After Michael Phelps backed out of the 400 m individual medley, Cseh picked up his first gold medal at the world championships.

Cseh failed to back up his previous performances in the 2007 World Championships, finishing outside the medals in the 400 m individual medley; however he did set a new national record in the 200 m individual medley, along with testing out the 200 m freestyle.

2008 Olympics[]

Cseh represented Hungary at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in three swimming events: the 400 m individual medley, the 200 m butterfly, and the 200 m individual medley. Despite setting the European record in all of them, he won the silver medal in each and came in second behind American Michael Phelps, who won each event with a new world record. In both individual medleys, Cseh came out ahead of the bronze-medal winner Ryan Lochte.

At the 2009 World Championships, Cseh was rushed to hospital on arrival in Rome, suffering from a stomach virus. A source close to the Hungarian team stated: "He has had to have re hydration and electrolyte drinks but is quite sick." He scratched his first event, the 200 m butterfly, however he did return to competition on day 4 setting a European record in the 200 m individual medley, swimming a touch slower the next night to capture silver, final night of competition saw him take bronze in the 400 m individual medley.

At the 2010 European Championships, Cseh held off Markus Rogan for gold in the 200 m individual medley, winning the event for the third time. Also taking gold in the 400 m individual medley for the fourth time. He scratched the European Short Course Championships to focus on the World Short Course Championships where he won a bronze in the 200 m butterfly.

At the 2011 World Championships, he took bronze in the 200 m individual medley, finished 9th in the 100 m butterfly, and 12th in the 200 m butterfly.

Cseh wins his second World Champs (long course) gold, 10 years after the first

2012 Olympics[]

At the 2012 Olympics, he competed in 6 events: the 200 m butterfly, 200 m individual medley, 400 m individual medley, and the 3 relays. Cseh narrowly failed to reach the final of the 400 meter individual medley, coming in 9th position in the semi-finals. He finished 12th in the 200m butterfly. Cseh did add to his Olympic medal count with a bronze in the 200 meter individual medley, touching the wall in a time of 1:56.22, behind Phelps (gold – 1:54.27) and Lochte (silver – 1:54.90).

At the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, Cseh finally won another gold, 10 years after his first, by winning the 200m butterfly in 1:53.48, 0.2 seconds ahead of Chad le Clos.[2]

2016 Olympics[]

At the 2016 Olympics, he competed in the 100 m and 200 m butterfly, along with the 4 × 100 m medley relay.

In 100 m butterfly he finished 2nd along with rivals Michael Phelps and Chad le Clos, where Singaporean Joseph Schooling won the race with a new Olympic record. Cseh has now won Olympic silver medals in four different events, and he has also won individual medals in four different Olympics.

2020 Olympics[]

At the 2020 Olympics, Laszlo Cseh competed in his fifth and last Olympic games, entering in men’s 200m IM only. The 35-year-old Hungarian stopped the clock in a time of 1:57.68 to finish 7th in the race, after the race he announced retirement from competitive swimming, ending his legendary career as 6-time Olympic medalist and 13-time World Champ medalist. [3]

Career best times[]

Cseh has broken five short course world records and progressively lowered numerous European records in his career.

Event Time Record Meet
Long Course
200 m individual medley 1:55.18 ER 2009 World Championships
400 m individual medley 4:06.16 ER 2008 Olympics
100 m backstroke 53.40 2012 Olympics
100 m butterfly 50.86 2016 European Championships
200 m butterfly 1:52.70 Former ER 2008 Olympics
200 m freestyle 1:45.78 2009 World Championships
Event Time Record Meet
Short Course
200 m individual medley 1:51.36 Former WR 2015 European Championships
400 m individual medley 3:57.27 Former WR 2009 European Championships
100 m butterfly 49.33 2015 European Championships
200 m butterfly 1:49.00 ER 2015 European Championships
200 m freestyle 1:41.64 2009 European Championships

Awards[]

  • Hungarian swimmer of the Year (9): 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016
  • Ribbon Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary – Golden Cross (2004)
  • Swimming World MagazineEuropean Swimmer of the Year (2): 2005, 2006
  • Hungarian Athlete of the Year (1) - the National Sports Association (NSSZ) awards: 2006
  • Budapest Pro Urbe award (2006)
  • Hungarian Sportsman of the Year (2) - votes of sports journalists: 2006, 2015
  • Junior Príma award (2007)
  • Ribbon Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary – Officer's Cross (2008)
  • Honorary Citizen of Balatonalmádi (2008)
  • Príma Primissima award (2009)
  • Honorary Citizen of Kőbánya (2011)
  • Ribbon Order of Merit of Hungary – Commander's Cross (2012)
  • Hungarian university athlete of the year (1): 2015
  • Hungarian Heritage Award (2015)
  • European swimmer of the year (LEN) (2015)
  • Honorary Citizen of Eger (2016)
  • Ribbon Order of Merit of Hungary – Commander's Cross with Star (2016)

References[]

  1. ^ Cseh László. musz.hu
  2. ^ Stewart, Mel (5 August 2015). "Watch Laszlo Cseh win 200 butterfly – world championships race video". Swimswam. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  3. ^ [hhttps://swimswam.com/hungarian-olympic-icon-laszlo-cseh-retires-from-competitive-swimming/ "HUNGARIAN OLYMPIC ICON LASZLO CSEH RETIRES FROM COMPETITIVE SWIMMING"]. SwimSwam. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 31 Aug 2021.

External links[]

Records
Preceded by
George Bovell
Men's 200-metre individual medley
world record-holder (short course)

8 December 2005 – 7 April 2006
Succeeded by
Ryan Lochte
Preceded by
Thiago Pereira
Men's 200-metre individual medley
world record-holder (short course)

13 December 2007 – 11 April 2008
Succeeded by
Ryan Lochte
Preceded by
Brian Johns
Men's 400-metre individual medley
world record-holder (short course)

9 December 2005 – 16 December 2010
Succeeded by
Ryan Lochte
Awards
Preceded by
Ákos Braun
Krisztián Berki
Hungarian Sportsman of The Year
2006
2015
Succeeded by
Gábor Talmácsi
Áron Szilágyi
Preceded by
Pieter van den Hoogenband
European Swimmer of the Year
2005–2006
Succeeded by
Mateusz Sawrymowicz
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Camelia Potec
Mare Nostrum Tour Overall Winner
2005
Succeeded by
Leisel Jones
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Áron Szilágyi
Flagbearer for Hungary
(with Aida Mohamed)
Tokyo 2020
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Retrieved from ""