They came from all corners of the country to fulfill the bucket list experience!
Sunshine, excellent water and a record number of nearly 2,000 participants in four different distances – the 3rd MOL Campus Bay Swimming was a real swimming festival in Lágymányosi Bay. The Budapest Sports Office (BSI) horganized the special swimming event for the 10th time, where everyone - whether a beginner or a professional swimmer - found the right challenge among the varied distances.
The MOL Campus Bay Swimming is more than a competition: it is an atmospheric, globally unique community program that offered a unique, truly bucket-list experience: those wishing to exercise could swim in natural water in the heart of a metropolis. In a way that is only possible in a few major cities in the world.
- Every year, more and more of us are here in the Lágymányos Bay, the MOL Campus Bay Swim has now become an unmissable event on the calendar of those who want to exercise and do sports. Participants came from all over the country to enjoy this unique competition held in a wonderful environment together, in community. We are proud of their perseverance and enthusiasm, and we congratulate everyone who participated in the event. – he said Arpad Kocsis, managing director of the Budapest Sports Office.
The spectators and fans could watch the event in a unique environment, relaxing in the green areas of the Kopaszi Dam. BudaPart and Flava Beach provided an unparalleled backdrop for the summer-kick-off splash at the foot of the MOL Tower.
- This year, the MOL Campus Bay Swim was held for the third time. In the first year, we felt that we had done something very good, but now the nearly 2,000 participants have confirmed this. Together, we have managed to create a leisure sports event that is unique due to its location, and we also experience that it has become an increasingly popular event. The number of entries increases by hundreds every year. We love it very much and I hope that we will be able to support and develop the event for a long, long time to come. – he said Fetter Balazs, the head of sponsorship at MOL Group.
Participants from more than 340 settlements of the country came to the Gulf Swim, who could start in distances of 500, 1500, 3000 and 4500 meters. The field was extremely diverse: with a ratio of 60% men and 40% women, all age groups were represented, from children to the elderly. The oldest participant was 80-year-old Edit Gábor, who was taking part in the swim for the first time, but she immediately set off for the longest distance, 4500 meters.
A regular participant of the event jumped into the water and started at 500 meters, Laszlo Cseh, an Olympic silver and bronze medalist, world and European champion swimmer, who promoted open water swimming and an active lifestyle as a swimming ambassador for the Pentatrial Trials.
- It was a great experience to swim in open water, and in this special environment, in the heart of Budapest. Community swimming has a completely different atmosphere than pool competitions. Here, time and seconds are not important, but the experience, the joy of movement and completing the distances together, strengthening each other. – said Laszlo Cseh.
