Hungarian Swimming Championship: Milák swam the second-best time of all time in 200 butterfly

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2021.03.24. 21:57

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The international swimming media had already been amazed on Tuesday night because of the 1:52.50 time – but it turned out Kristóf Milák saved the real thing for Wednesday morning's final of 200 butterfly. His time of 1:51.40 is the second best of all time Only his 2019 World Championships WR is better, and even beat Michael Phelps' 1:51.51 record in his sharkskin swimsuit.

Kristóf Milák swam a sensational time on the second day (too) of the national championships (Photo: Hédi Tumbász)
FOR THE GALLERY, CLICK ON THE PICTURE! — Kristóf Milák swam a sensational time on the second day (too) of the national championships (Photo: Hédi Tumbász) FOR THE GALLERY, CLICK ON THE PICTURE!

According to the biorhythm, competitors usually swim their best time in the afternoon/evening – Phelps' world record of 1:52.03 in Beijing (and László Cseh's European record of 1:52.70 of 11 years made him a silver medalist behind Phelps) were set in the morning. All the other major times were reached in the afternoon finals, and of course most of the record-breaking Phelps times were born in the “sharkskin” era, so is the long-thought-to-be irrefutable 1:51.51 in Rome in 2009.

„It pinched a little”
“The end pinched a little... I've been just told until 150 meters I turned within my World record splits which means that the last 50 went pretty badly. Blame it on the lack of trainings. I'm pleased, though, that this time confirms everything we've done so far. I started taking morning swims very seriously. This was the first time that I trained extremely hard, and it works. I think it can only get better at the Olympics because the really serious preparation is yet to come. Actually, looking back, I can say that 2020 is trash with the illness and amotivation. I've been training hard again since January 2021. I've managed to cure myself, I'm fully rested, I can finally see the goal and feel the motivation, so it's easy start doing anything," said Kristóf Milák, gold medalist in 50 free and 200 fly.

We wrote on Tuesday, in the "second" textile age, which began in 2010, 1:53 became a watershed. However, for a long time, only the three geniuses in butterfly, Phelps, László Cseh and Chad le Clos, were able go below that time once. None of them could get within 1:52.9, though. Then, in 2018, Kristóf Milák imploded, for whom the time of 1:52.7 became almost the routine over time, and then came the cosmic 1:50.73 at the World Championships in South Korea. In January last year, Japan's Seto Daiya "scared" everybody with a time of 1:52.53 at the FINA Champions League in China, but in 2020 corona hit, so for now it's a question whether the best of the Japanese will be able to reproduce this otherwise brutally good time. What's a fact, though, is that Kristóf Milák first finished with a 1:52.50 and then with a 1:51.40 within 18 hours. His splits until 150 meters were within his world record time in Gwangju. "I mean, the last 50 went pretty badly," the world champion summed up with a grin. He also added that it was still to be blamed on the “lack of trainings.” This shows where he and the world's other swimmers in 200 butterfly stand. Others want to swim 1:52 in their best shape, but Milák's 1:51.4 is just the beginning of his serious training sessions. He needs to train seriously because, as his coach, Attila Selmeci noted in the dressing room's aisle, “I can tell he gets tired by the end.” Now let's image when he doesn't get tired...

Milák also won a gold medal in 50 freestyle, just ten minutes before 200 butterfly – making him the only two-time champion on opening day. In the women's sprint, Fanni Gyurinovics interrupted Petra Senánszky's winning streak by beating the Debrecen swimmer by four hundredths. In the ladies' 200 butterfly finals, Boglárka Kapás won
again with a great time, one second ahead of Katinka Hosszú.

There were no surprises in 100m backstroke as Richárd Bohus and Kata Burián won easily, and then it was the same with Csaba Szilágyi's and Dalma Sebestyén's success in 100 breaststroke. Ajna Késely won again in 800 freestyle after winning 200 butterfly the night before, while Gergely Gyurta surpassed in 1500 with a 9-second advantage. As usual, the mixed team of Győr won the 4x100 freestyle relay that closed the morning.

HUNGARIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, DUNA ARÉNA

Men's. 50m freestyle. National champion: Kristóf Milák (BHSE, coach: Attila Selmeci) 22.19,2. Szebasztián Szabó (Győri Úszó Sportegyesület) 22.36, 3. Nándor Németh (BVSC-Zugló) 22.39.1500m free. National champion: Gergely Gyurta (UTE, coach: Ferenc Kovácshegyi, Balázs Virth) 15:09.56,2. Ákos Kalmár (Balaton ÚK Veszprém) 15:17.08, 3. Kristóf Rasovszky (Balaton ÚK Veszprém) 15:17.89.100m backstroke. National champion: Richárd Bohus (BVSC-Zugló, coach: BVSC coach team) 54.11,2. Benedek Bendegúz Kovács (BVSC-Zugló) 54.27, 3. Ádám Telegdy (Kőbánya SC) 54.65.100m breaststroke. National champion: Csaba Szilágyi (NICS-HSÚVC Hódmezővásárhely, coach: HSÚVC coach team) 1:00.26,2. Tamás Takács (BVSC-Zugló) 1:01.48, 3. Dávid Horváth (Kőbánya SC) 1:02.41.200m butterfly. National champion: Kristóf Milák 1:51.40,2. Tamás Kenderesi (PSN) 1:56.02, 3. Dávid Verrasztó (FTC) 1:57.22.

Women's. 50m free. National champion: Fanni Gyurinovics (Vasas SC, coach: György Lőrinczi, Kitti Bodó) 25.76,2. Petra Senánszky (Debreceni Sportcentrum SI) 25.80, 3. Kiara Pózvai (Győri Úszó Sportegyesület) 25.68.800m free. National champion: Ajna Késely (Kőbánya SC, coach: KSC coach team) 8:37.14,2. Viktória Mihályvári-Farkas (FTC) 8:41.49, 3. Bettina Fábián (Szegedi Úszó Egylet) 8:43.66.100m back. National champion: Katalin Burián (BVSC-Zugló, coach: Zsolt Plagányi) 1:00.35,2. Gerda Szilágyi (Stamina TK) 1:01.60, 3. Panna Ugrai (HÓD Úszó SE) 1:02.03.100m breast. National champion: Dalma Sebestyén (Győri Úszó Sportegyesület, coach: GYÚS coach team) 1:08.79,2. Eszter Békési (Egri Úszó Klub) 1:09.13, 3. Ivett Szurovcsák (Nyíregyházi Sportcentrum) 1:09.87.200m butterfly. National champion: Boglárka Kapás (UTE, coach: Balázs Virth) 2:07.24,2. Katinka Hosszú (IronSwim) 2:08.45, 3. Réka Nyírádi (UTE) 2:10.84.

Mixed teams. 4x100m freestyle relay. National champion: Győri Úszó Sportegyesület (Szebasztián Szabó, Gábor Balog, Kiara Pózvai, Sára Safrankó) 3:33.63,2. BVSC-Zugló (N. Németh, Bohus, Nahalka, Elekes) 3:34.70, 3. Debreceni Sportcentrum SI (Holoda, Sándor, Senánszky, Gál) 3:36.48.

Translated by Vanda Orosz.

Milák Kristóf

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