Kristof Milak Shadows WR Pace On Way To Shattering 1:51.10 Championship Record In Latest 200 ‘Fly Epic
You could almost see Peter Pan as Kristof Milak shadowed himself on a haunt of his own World Record 1:50.73 to a crushing 1:51.10 defeat of anyone else who aspired to getting close in the 200m butterfly final on day 3 at the European Championships in Budapest.
Coverage of day 3 finals and semis is limited today, for personal reasons, see two other finals below
- Other finals today: Mykhailo Romanchuk 14:39 Gets The Better Of Gregorio Paltrinieri, An Olympic Champ With Weight Of Open-Water Gold In His Wings
The title-winning time took down the 1:52.91 Championship record set by Milak’s fellow Hungarian Laszlo Cseh when he claimed the World title back in 2015. Today, Cseh, in the 200 medley, became the first swimmer ever to race in 10 European Championships, his amazing journey having started in 2002.
Milak has a way to go to match that but over 200m butterfly there’s no contest any more. The bronze went to Italian Federico Burdisso in 1:54.28, 0.1sec ahead of Hungary’s second man home, Tamas Kenderesi.
With that swim and triumph today, Kristof Milak, the towering favourite for Olympic gold in Tokyo, matched Michael Phelps on all-time top 10 entries, at 4 apiece, the Hungarian with the three best ever, today No2 behind his 2019 World record and ahead of the 1:51.40 he clocked in the swiftest morning swim ever at Olympic trials in the same Duna Arena pool in March.
Kristof Milak Splits compared, with Phelps for the fine memory:
- 24.57; 53.12 (28.55) 1:21.76 (28.64) 1:51.10 (29.34) Kristóf Milak European Champs, Budapest
- 24.37; 52.73 (28.36) 1:21.49 (28.76) 1:51.40 (29.91) Kristóf Milak HUN 2021 Trials, Budapest
- 24.51; 53.41 (28.90) 1:22.63 (29.22) 1:52.50 (29.87) Kristóf Milak HUN 2021 Trials, Budapest
- 24.66; 52.88 (28.22) 1:21.57 (28.69) 1:50.73 (29.16) Kristóf Milak 2019 World record and title
- 24.76; 52.88 (28.12) 1:21.93 (29.05) 1:51.51 (29.58) Michael Phelps 2009 World record and title
| P | L | Nation | Swimmer / DoB | R.T. | 50m | 100m | 150m | TIME | GAP | |||||||
| 1 | 5 |  HUN | MILAK Kristof (20 FEB 2000) | 0.67 | 24.57 | 53.12 (1) 28.55 | 1:21.76 (1) 28.64 | 1:51.10CR 29.34 | ||||||||
| 2 | 3 |  ITA | BURDISSO Federico (20 SEP 2001) | 0.68 | 25.06 | 53.19 (2) 28.13 | 1:22.96 (2) 29.77 | 1:54.28 31.32 | 3.18 | |||||||
| 3 | 4 | HUN | KENDERESI Tamas (13 DEC 1996) | 0.70 | 25.50 | 54.58 (4) 29.08 | 1:24.34 (4) 29.76 | 1:54.43 30.09 | 3.33 | |||||||
| 4 | 6 |  BUL | IVANOV Antani (17 JUL 1999) | 0.66 | 25.29 | 54.29 (3) 29.00 | 1:24.05 (3) 29.76 | 1:54.50 30.45 | 3.40 | |||||||
| 5 | 2 |  SUI | PONTI Noe (01 JUN 2001) | 0.74 | 25.55 | 54.88 (6) 29.33 | 1:24.67 (5) 29.79 | 1:55.18 30.51 | 4.08 | |||||||
| 6 | 1 |  BEL | CROENEN Louis (03 JAN 1994) | 0.67 | 25.60 | 55.05 (7) 29.45 | 1:25.28 (6) 30.23 | 1:55.69 30.41 | 4.59 | |||||||
| 7 | 8 |  RUS | KUDASHEV Alexander (05 DEC 1995) | 0.76 | 25.80 | 55.14 (8) 29.34 | 1:25.59 (8) 30.45 | 1:56.33 30.74 | 5.23 | |||||||
| 8 | 7 | ITA | CARINI Giacomo (02 JUL 1997) | 0.65 | 25.66 | 54.75 (5) 29.09 | 1:25.32 (7) 30.57 | 1:56.69 31.37 | 5.59 |
Women’s 50m Backstroke: Kira Toussaint Turns Orange To Gold In 27.37
If you’re in a team game of reaction, get Kira Toussaint on the line and sign her up! The Dutch European record holder bolted off the wall with a reaction time of 0.49, compared to 0.59sec for Britain Kathleen Dawson. And that made up the winning margin between the two, Toussaint on 27.36, Dawson on 27.46, after 27.19 for a Championship record in semis yesterday. Bronze also orange, Maike de Waard home in 27.74, 0.11sec ahead of the second Brit to the wall, Dawson’s Stirling teammate Cassie Wild.
| P | L | Nation | Swimmer / DoB | R | Time | Gap | |||||||
| 1 | 5 |  NED | TOUSSAINT Kira (22 MAY 1994) | 0.49 | 27.36 | ||||||||
| 2 | 4 |  GBR | DAWSON Kathleen (03 OCT 1997) | 0.59 | 27.46 | 0.10 | |||||||
| 3 | 6 | NED | DE WAARD Maaike (11 OCT 1996) | 0.58 | 27.74 | 0.38 | |||||||
| 4 | 1 | GBR | WILD Cassie (12 JUN 2000) | 0.57 | 27.85 | 0.49 | |||||||
| 5 | 3 | RUS | FESIKOVA Anastasia (08 MAY 1990) | 0.65 | 27.90 | 0.54 | |||||||
| 6 | 8 |  DEN | JENSEN Julie Kepp (03 JAN 2000) | 0.59 | 28.01 | 0.65 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 |  FIN | JALLOW Mimosa (17 JUN 1994) | 0.56 | 28.16 | 0.80 | |||||||
| DSQ | 2 |  AUT | PILHATSCH Caroline (01 MAR 1999) | 0.56 | DSQ |
Men’s 4x200m Freestyle
Russia claimed gold in a championship record of 7:03.48, as Great Britain also came home inside the meet mark on 7:04.61, the bronze to Italy in 7:06.05. The Russians won through consistency of the kind that makes them favourites for the Olympic crown in Tokyo this summer, on the basis of what unfolds in championship waters. On paper, the Brits, with Duncan Scott and Tom Dean having posted solo 1:44s at British trials, remain the danger on paper. Alchemy ahead.
- RUSSIA – 7:03.48 CR
1:45.15 MALYUTIN Martin – 05 JUL 1999
1:45.39 SHCHEGOLEV Aleksandr – 06 APR 2002
1:46.52 KRASNYKH Alexander – 19 JUN 1995
1:46.42 VEKOVISHCHEV Mikhail – 05 AUG 1998 - GREAT BRITAIN – 7:04.61
1:46.47 DEAN Thomas – 02 MAY 2000
1:46.97 RICHARDS Matthew – 17 DEC 2002
1:45.88 GUY James – 26 NOV 1995
1:45.29 SCOTT Duncan W – 06 MAY 1997 - ITALY – 7:06.05
1:47.30 BALLO Stefano – 18 FEB 1993
1:46.17 CIAMPI Matteo – 03 NOV 1996
1:46.02 DE TULLIO Marco – 21 SEP 2000
1:46.56 DI COLA Stefano – 11 DEC 1998
France was close, while Ireland, in 5th in national-record time, has a nervous wait to see whether it made history as the first Irish quartet ever to qualify for the Olympic 4x200m freestyle relay. Sláinte! Go n-eirí an t-ádh leat!
- France – 7:07.24
1:46.91 – POTHAIN Jordan – 14 OCT 1994
1:46.88 – TESIC Enzo – 07 JAN 2000
1:46.96 – TOMAC Mewen – 11 SEP 2001
1:46.49 – ATSU Jonathan – 27 SEP 1996 - IRELAND – 7:12.00
1:47.46 – MC MILLAN Jack – 14 JAN 2000
1:47.81 – SLOAN Jordan – 03 AUG 1993
1:48.65 – MC GEEVER Finn – 20 OCT 2000
1:48.08 – QUINN Gerry – 26 FEB 1998
The Irish quartet took down the national record in 7:12.73 in heats. The same quartet left the 2019 World Championships ranked 16th in the world, a position good for a place at the Games. Since then, schedules and selection processes have been shuffled a great deal by the pandemic.
FINA’s qualification period ends on May 31 – and Ireland must wait to see if its 7:12.00 high bar makes the final cut.
Swim Ireland’s National Performance Director, Jon Rudd, said: “We couldn’t have asked any more from those four boys tonight – commitment to the cause, performing for each other and for the collective.
“An Irish Senior Record again, one place higher than the heats and a time that puts us very much in the mix. Only time will tell now if that is the historic swim we were looking for.”
No Irish swimming relay team has qualified for an Olympic Games since 1972, and no men’s Irish swimming relay team has ever qualified for any Olympic relay.