Hungarian Championships: Kristof Milak Marks Return With 200 Fly/50 Free Double in A Cut Times

MILAK Kristof HUN 200m Butterfly Men Heats Swimming FINA 19th World Championships Budapest 2022 Budapest, Duna Arena 20/06/22 Photo Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Photo Courtesy: Photo Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Hungarian Championships: Kristof Milak Marks Return With 200 Fly/50 Free Double in A Cut Times

Kristof Milak, in case you’re keeping score at home, is back. And in a very big way.

Milak bookended the finals session of Day 2 of the Hungarian National Championships Wednesday by winning the men’s 200 butterfly and 50 freestyle at the Duna Arena.

In his bread-and-butter event, Milak looked slightly off his world record best but a worthy contender to defend his gold medal from Tokyo. He bossed the final 50 meters in the final to go 1:54.90, coming home in an even 30.00. It allowed him to pull away from Richard Marton, who went 1:56.32 for silver, and get under the Olympic qualification time. Marton’s time is a consideration cut.

Milak has all but qualified for Paris 2024 in the 100 and 200 fly with times from the 2023 Hungarian nationals although that won’t be confirmed until the qualification period ends on 23 June, the final day of the European Championships in Belgrade, SErbia.

The stamina contrasts with the speed he showed late in the 50 free. He won that in 21.89 seconds, two tenths up on Nandor Nemeth. The A cut is 21.96. Nemeth’s 22.19 is outside the B cut of 22.07.

Milak’s best time before Wednesday had been 22.06.

Bence Szabados was third in 22.31, with Szebasztian Szabo fourth in 22.33.

There were three A cuts and three B cuts on the night in Budapest. Boglarka Kapas delivered an outstanding finals swim in the women’s 200 fly to get under the A cut in 2:08.15 and claim victory. She was three seconds clear of the field. The bronze medalist in the 800 free in Rio and 2019 World Champion in this event assured her place at a fifth Olympic Games just two weeks before her 31st birthday.

Her partner, Adam Telegdy, will likely join her there, though he came .02 away from guaranteeing that. Telegdy won the men’s 100 backstroke in 53.76, which is a fraction shy of the A cut of 53.74. Telegdy was 54.81 later in the night off the front of Kobanya Sport Club’s 400 medley relay. Runner-up Adam Jaszo (54.14) is just off the consideration time of 54.01.

Ajna Kesely posted an Olympic B cut in the 400 free, winning in 4:08.24. The auto standard is 4:07.90. Bettina Fabian was second in 4:09.33, .17 off the B cut.

David Bethlehem went 3:49.00 to win the men’s 400 free. Kristof Rasoszky, already confirmed for the open water 10 kilometer, was second in 3:50.10, ahead of Italian Davide Marchello. American collegian Zalan Sarkany was fourth in 3:51.66.

Dara Molnar outtouched Lora Fanni Komoroczy to win the 100 back. Molnar’s time of 1:01.03 was shy of the 59.99 needed for an A cut. Five swimmers broke 1:02, Komoroczy getting silver in 1:01.29.

Petra Senanszky won the women’s 50 free in 25.05, shy of the 24.70 needed for Paris. She had been 25.00 in prelims. Runner-up Nikolett Padar went 25.55. Padar also finished third in the 400 free after having set the top seed in prelims.

Among international swimmers descending on Duna Arena, Turkey’s Polat Uzer Turnali finished third in the men’s 200 fly in 1:56.41. That trims .05 off the national mark he set in Spain in February. Portugal’s Ana Caterina Monteiro went 2:12.65 in the 200 fly in prelims for the top seed, though she wasn’t able to speed up at night. Austria’s Bernhard Reitshammer finished fourth in the men’s 100 back, his fastest a 55.51 in the morning.

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