David Betlehem has already tasted success on the biggest stages, winning Olympic bronze, World Championship medals, and European titles. But a senior World Championship or Olympic gold medal has remained out of reach. However, he came close to changing that at the 2025 World Championships, finishing second to Florian Wellbrock in the 3km knockout sprint, just 1.7 seconds behind the German. Now, with Los Angeles 2028 on the horizon, the 23-year-old Hungarian has two major goals left before he considers retirement.

On September 22, Betlehem spoke to M4 Sport’s Sports News about what he still wants from his career before retiring. The FTC swimmer said, “Two more medals, from two competitions. It remains to be seen how many opportunities I will have for this. Hopefully one next year and one in 2028, and then I will say a fond farewell to the sport and hand over my place to the young,” Betlehem said.

Betlehem already has an Olympic medal from Paris 2024, although it was bronze rather than gold. He finished third in the men’s 10km open-water race behind fellow Hungarian Kristóf Rasovszky and Germany’s Oliver Klemet. The race came down to a tight battle for the final podium place, with Betlehem holding off Italy’s Domenico Acerenza by just 0.6 seconds at the finish.

Rasovszky won the Olympic title in 1:50:52.7, followed by Klemet in 1:50:54.8. Betlehem finished in 1:51:09.0, while Acerenza was only six-tenths of a second behind him. The Hungarian also competed in the 1500m freestyle in Paris, finishing fourth and setting a national record of 14:40.91.

Even his World Championship record is just as impressive, although a gold medal has still escaped him. Betlehem has collected five senior World Championship medals, including two silver and three bronze. His first came at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, where he won silver in the mixed 4x1500m relay. He then added bronze medals in the men’s 4x1500m relay at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka and the 2024 championships in Doha.

In 2025, he added two more medals in Singapore. He won silver in the 3km knockout sprint behind Wellbrock and later took bronze in the mixed 4x1500m relay. His form continued to improve in 2026. Betlehem won the overall Open Water Swimming World Cup title after a strong season and sealed the trophy at the final in Setúbal, Portugal, where he won the men’s 10km race by just 0.2 seconds.

Earlier in the year, he also won both the 10km and 3km knockout sprint in Ibiza. Betlehem then produced another strong performance at the 2026 European Aquatics Championships in Paris. He collected a medal in all four open-water events he entered, taking silver in the 10km, silver in the 5km, gold in the 3km knockout sprint and bronze in the 4x1500m relay. He later finished sixth in the 1500m freestyle final.

For now, Betlehem remains focused on the 2027 World Championships and Los Angeles 2028. But his journey to this point has not been straightforward.

Betlehem’s difficult road back to the biggest stage

Before becoming an Olympic medalist and one of the leading open-water swimmers in the world, Betlehem went through a period in which he was not even sure he would continue swimming. The most challenging time early on in his life was in 2020 when he became ill and started to experience severe mental health issues. 

“Deep down, but I also stopped swimming because I felt like I wanted to live a normal life,” he said in an interview. At the time, Betlehem’s idea of a normal life was far removed from competing on the biggest swimming stages. He spoke about wanting to be able to enjoy simple things again, such as spending time in the garden when the weather was good or occasionally going out with friends. He also recalled travelling from Zalaegerszeg to Budapest with his parents to see a psychologist as he tried to work through the difficult period.

Betlehem later described himself as being in a very dark place, saying, “I was in a very deep state, I didn’t even give myself much of a chance.” However, he eventually recovered and returned to training. His comeback completely changed the direction of his career. Just four years later, Betlehem stood on the Olympic podium in Paris, winning bronze in the men’s 10km open-water race. 

There was another setback after his breakthrough Olympic campaign in 2024. Betlehem moved to the U.S. to study and train with other Hungarian swimmers, including Bettina Fábián, at NC State. However, the agreement began to fall apart quickly, especially with regard to the athletes’ commitment to continue in open-water racing and NCAA competition.

In December, Betlehem withdrew from the Short Course World Championships in Budapest. The Hungarian Swimming Federation said discussions over the 2025 season had revealed disagreements about Betlehem and Fábián competing in the Open Water World Cup while at NC State. The situation eventually led Betlehem and Fábián to return to Hungary. The federation also said the swimmers had been unable to train normally during their final weeks in the United States.

However, NC State coach Braden Holloway strongly disputed that version of events. He said, “Absolutely none of this is true,” and argued that the Hungarian federation had put pressure on the swimmers to return home. Holloway also maintained that NC State did support athletes competing in open-water events.

With both sides offering different accounts, the episode became another interruption in Betlehem’s career. Still, the setback did not derail him for long. Betlehem returned to Hungary, continued developing his open-water career, and entered 2025 with the chance to challenge for major international medals again.  By 2026, he had gone on to win the overall Open Water Swimming World Cup title, adding another major achievement to a career that had already come a long way from the difficult period he faced in 2020.