Nikolett Pádár

Nikolett Pádár (born 30 March 2006) is a Hungarian competitive swimmer. She is a Hungarian record holder in the short course 4×100-metre freestyle relay. At the 2021 European Short Course Championships, she placed fifth in the 200-metre freestyle. At the 2022 European Aquatics Championships (long course), she placed eighth in the final of the 200-metre freestyle and won a bronze medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay. She is five-time World Junior Championships gold medalist, winning gold medals in the 100-metre freestyle, 200-metre freestyle, 4×100-metre freestyle relay, 4×200-metre freestyle relay, and 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay at the 2022 World Junior Championships. She is a ten-time medalist at the European Junior Championships, including winning the European junior title in the 200-metre freestyle in 2021 and 2022 and the 100-metre freestyle in 2022.

Background Pádár was born 30 March 2006 in Szeged, Hungary and competes for Szegedi Úszó Egylet in regional and national competitions."Pádár Nikolett" (in Hungarian). Hungarian Swimming Association. Retrieved 22 July 2022. She trains locally at a pool in Szeged, with multiple sessions in the pool a day.Fülöp, Tímea (14 July 2022). "Szegedi Sikersztorik: Pádár Nikolett a következő Hosszú Katinka? Exkluzív interjú a szegedi úszóval, aki szinte verhetetlen a medencében" (in Hungarian). szeged365.hu. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

Career 2021 At the 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships, held starting 6 July in Rome, Italy at Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto, Pádár won the gold medal in the 200-metre freestyle with a time of 1:59.38.Bruckner, Vince (9 July 2021). "Úszás: Pádár Nikoletta nyert 200 m gyorson a római junior Eb-n" (in Hungarian). Nemzeti Sport. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022."Pádár Nikolett Óriási Hajrával Aranyérmes" (in Hungarian). Hungarian Swimming Association. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022."Pádár Nikoletta aranyérmet nyert 200 méter gyorson a Rómában zajló junior úszó Európa-bajnokság pénteki versenynapján" (in Hungarian). Origo. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022."Pádár Nikolett junior Európa-bajnok 200 méter gyorson!" (in Hungarian). szeged.hu. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022. She also won a gold medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, a bronze medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, a bronze medal in the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay, placed fourth in the 4×100-metre medley relay for her contributions swimming freestyle on the preliminaries relay, and placed tenth in the 100-metre freestyle.LEN (12 July 2021). "LEN European Junior Swimming Championships Rome - Italy: Complete Results Book". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 22 July 2022. In November of the same year, she placed fifth in the final of the 200-metre freestyle at the 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships, held at the Palace of Water Sports in Kazan, Russia, with a time of 1:56.14 in the final after progressing through preliminaries with a time of 1:57.02 and semifinals with a time of 1:56.31.LEN (7 November 2021). "2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships Kazan (RUS): Complete Results Book". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 22 July 2022.Garai Szakács László (7 November 2021). "Óriási szegedi egyéni csúcs Kazanyban: Pádár Nikoletta fantasztikusan versenyzett 200 méter gyorson is" (in Hungarian). szeged.hu. Retrieved 22 July 2022. She also placed 15th in the 100-metre freestyle, 34th in the 100-metre individual medley, and 42nd in the 50-metre freestyle.

The following month, at the 2021 World Short Course Championships, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with swimming contested at Etihad Arena, Pádár helped achieve a Hungarian record in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay with a time of 3:36.20 in the preliminaries, qualifying for the final ranking seventh before placing seventh in the final with a time of 3:36.94."A 15 éves Pádár Nikolettel felálló 4×100 méteres gyorsváltó a hetedik helyen zárt a döntőben az Abu-Dzabiban zajló rövid pályás felnőtt-világbajnokságon" (in Hungarian). utanpotlassport.hu. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.FINA (21 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Abu Dhabi (UAE): Results Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved 22 July 2022. She also placed fifth in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, swimming the third leg of the relay in both the preliminaries and the final, and placed 23rd in the 200-metre freestyle with a time of 1:59.43.

2022 For the 200-metre freestyle at the 2022 Hungarian National Championships in Debrecen in April, Pádár won the event with a personal best time of 1:57.91 and qualified for the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in the event at of age."Pádár Nikolett és Holló Balázs is világbajnoki szinttel nyert a debreceni úszó-ob-n" (in Hungarian). Origo. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.Kerényi, Ervin (29 April 2022). "„Célom, hogy világklasszis legyek” - a 16 éves Pádár Nikolett már magyar bajnokként készül a vb-re" (in Hungarian). M4 Sport. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

2022 World Aquatics Championships On the first day of pool swimming competition at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, held in Budapest, Pádár helped achieve an eighth-place finish in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, swimming the first 100 metres portion of the relay in 55.16 seconds to contribute to the final time of 3:38.20.FINA (18 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 22 July 2022.Kibédi, Péter (23 June 2022). "Pádár Nikolett első felnőtt világbajnokságán is bizonyította tehetségét" (in Hungarian). szegedma.hu. Retrieved 22 July 2022. Two days later, she placed 18th in the 200-metre freestyle with a time of 1:58.90.FINA (20 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 200m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 22 July 2022. In her third and final event, the 4×200-metre freestyle relay on the fifth day, she contributed a lead-off time of 1:58.01 to the time of 7:57.90 in the final to help place fifth in the event.FINA (22 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 4x200m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 22 July 2022.Vass, Imre (22 June 2022). "Pádár Nikolett ismét vb-döntős a váltóval" (in Hungarian). szeged.hu. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

2022 European Junior Championships

On 5 July, at the 2022 European Junior Swimming Championships hosted by Otopeni, Romania in July, Pádár started off with an eighth-place finish in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, swimming a 55.37 for the lead-off leg of the relay.LEN (10 July 2022). "Romania 2022: LEN European Junior Swimming Championships: Complete Results Book". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 22 July 2022. The following day, day two of competition, she won the gold medal in the 200-metre freestyle for her second consecutive title in the event, finishing in a time of 1:58.43."A magyar úszók remekelnek a junior Európa-bajnokságon" (in Hungarian). 24.hu. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.Fülöp, Tímea (7 July 2022). "Pádár Nikolett ma is letarolta a mezőnyt: újabb aranyat szerzett a bukaresti junior úszó Európa-bajnokságon" (in Hungarian). szeged365.hu. Retrieved 22 July 2022. Later in the finals session, she won a gold medal as part of the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay, splitting a time of 54.28 seconds for the third leg of the relay."Szenzációs magyar sikerek a junior úszó-eb-n" (in Hungarian). Origo. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022. The third day, she swam the fourth leg of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay in a time of 1:57.29 to help achieve a finish in 7:59.04 and win the gold medal in the event.Adami, Davide (7 July 2022). "Nuoto, Europei giovanili 2022: Spediacci e 4×200 sl donne d'argento! Curtis conquista il bronzo nei 50 sl" (in Italian). OA Sport. Retrieved 22 July 2022.Pérez, Marta (7 July 2022). "El 4x200 libre femenino roza el podio y Carrasco y Tonrath, a sus finales" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

Day four, in her fifth event of the Championships, Pádár swam the freestyle leg of the 4×100-metre medley relay in 54.95 seconds to help place fourth in a time of 3:54.47. The fifth day, 9 July, she won the gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle with a personal best time of 54.69 seconds, finishing 0.51 seconds ahead of silver medalist Dóra Molnár, also of Hungary, 0.65 seconds ahead of bronze medalist Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium, and a little over one second slower than the Hungarian record of 53.64 seconds set by Katinka Hosszú.Kisházi, Sándor (9 July 2022). "Pádár Nikolett 100 méter gyorson is ifjúsági Európa-bajnok!" (in Hungarian). szeged365.hu. Retrieved 22 July 2022."Pádár Nikolett Arany-, Molnár Dóra Ezüstérmes A Junior Úszó-Eb-n" (in Hungarian). Origo. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022."Zwemtalent Roos Vanotterdijk voegt extra brons toe aan medailleoogst op EK junioren" (in Dutch). Sporza. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.Zádori, Bence (10 July 2022). "Pádár Nikolett újabb számban lett Európa-bajnok" (in Hungarian). szegedma.hu. Retrieved 22 July 2022. The sixth and final day, she won the bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle with a personal best time of 4:12.04 for her first event of the finals session.Pérez, Marta (10 July 2022). "Emma Carrasco, bronce europeo júnior en 200 estilos" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 22 July 2022. In her eighth and final event of the Championships, she won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay, anchoring the relay with a time of 54.04 seconds to finish in 4:05.48.

2022 European Aquatics Championships