2021 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Swimming: Monday, May 17th – Sunday, May 23rd
- Budapest, Hungary
- Prelims at 10:00 am local/Finals at 6:00 pm local
- Event Site
- Entry List
- Live Stream
- Live Results
20-year old Hungarian swimmer Kristof Milak continued his hot meet this week at the European Championships by tying the Championship Record in the men’s 100 fly in prelims.
Milak swam 50.64, which tied the time done by Italy’s Piero Codia at the 2018 meet as the fastest in European Championship history. Codia finished 6th in the prelims on Saturday to also successfully advance in a 51.82.
Comparative Splits:
| Kristof Milak | Piero Codia | Kristof Milak | |
| 2021 Co-Championship Record | 2018 Co-Championship Record | Personal Best | |
| 50m | 24.15 | 23.42 | 23.84 |
| 100m | 26.49 | 27.22 | 26.63 |
| Total Time | 50.64 | 50.64 | 50.47 |
If Milak wants to clear his best time, and put a freight into the World Record holder Caeleb Dressel, it will likely take a faster opening 50 meters to get there. While Milak’s abilities in the 200 fly means he’ll always close better than Dressel, Dressel opened in a first 50 split of 22.83 in Gwangju in 2019 when he finished in 49.50. That’s 1.32 seconds faster than Milak opened on Saturday morning – too big of a gap to make up in a 100 meter race.
Milak, the World Record holder in the 200 fly, has been showing progress in the 100 fly over the last year. In March he psoted a best time of 50.47, and his prelims swim on Saturday was the 3rd-best of his career.
At the 2019 World Championships, where he broke Michael Phelps’ legendary World Record in the 200 fly, Milak swam 50.95 in the semi-final but missed the podium in the final, placing 4th in 51.26.
Already this week, Milak has swum the 2nd-best 200 fly in history, though he said he felt underprepared and out of shape for the event. He won gold and set a new Championship Record in that event as well.
Milak is also the current European Junior and World Junior Record holder, having swum 50.62 in 2017 at the World Championships in 2017 in the same pool where this week’s European Championships are being held in Budapest.
(Dressel’s first 50 in 2019 would have won gold in the 50m at the Euros.) Milak said he expected to break 50 at the Hungarian trials. He’s swimming faster here so maybe this is the place. He’s a freak so who knows what he might do. If you look at his 200 free where he went out slow in the semi’s and came home fast and then went out fast in the final and came home slower, he just needs to get the balance right.
That back 50 can only be described as Phelpsian.
He can definitely shave many tenths off of that front 50, I really think he’s going to flirting with the 50 second barrier in the final.
I still don’t think he has the raw front end speed to challenge Dressel. Being able to go out in 23 flat or better and come back in a 26.x is almost comical.
26.49 is faster than Caeleb Dressel has ever been in the second 50, amazing. Wonder if he can eventually come home under 26
Earlier in the meet in the 100 breaststroke, Pilato tied for the 3rd-best time in 1:06.34. The top two, however, were also Italian, Arianna Castiglioni (1:05.98) and Martina Carraro (1:06.26). By European Championships rules, countries can enter up to 4 swimmers in the preliminary rounds, but only 2-per-nation can advance to the second round (semi-finals or finals, depending on the event).
Wrong article 🙂
Phelps said that coming back in 26.0 was possible, so maybe Milak can do it.
Never forget Phelps splitting 25.1 then 26.3 to break the 100 fly WR in 2003.
Milák really has worked on his 100 more recently must have realized he needed to work on this after 19’ can’t wait to see what happens later.