[1] It delves into the demanding training regimen of competitive swimmers, and shows the agony and ecstasy of derbies themselves.
[4][5][6] "With the help of close-up images, all the emotions of the main character can be followed, both before the competition and after the defeat.
"[7] Her approach in the film was compared to her later work, Kilencedik emelet (1977): "It is about the impossibility of success, but also about the inevitable necessity of following the path that leads to it.
It is about the struggle, about “almost” success – in the narrow, hopeless world of the Kádár era.
The swimmer of 58 seconds falls short of the big race, but continues training the next day; the "welfare" family model of the Kilencedik emelet is falling apart, but this spurs the teenage girl of the two children to even better performance.