Milak Hits 51.1 100 Fly, Hosszu & Kapas Each Snag Wins On Day 1 Of ‘4 Nations’

4 NATIONS MEET

• Friday, July 24th – Sunday, July 26th
• Széchy Swimming Arena, Budapest
• 50m (LCM)
• Entries
• Day 1 Prelims
• Results

Day 1 of the inaugural 4 Nations Meet hosted by the nation of Hungary already saw two national records bite the dust, as Felix Auböck and Valentin Bayer got it done in style.

The former fired off a speedy lifetime best of 1:46.64 in the men’s 200m free for gold in a new Austrian national standard, while the latter accomplished the same feat with a time of 1:00.27 en route to topping the men’s 100m breast podium. You can read about these highlight-reel-caliber performances below:

• Auböck’s 200m free Austrian NR
• Bayer’s 100m breast Austrian NR

Hungarian Kristof Milak, who introduced himself to the world in a big way by taking down Michael Phelps‘s 200m fly world record last year at the FINA World Championships, took silver behind Auböck in the 200m free, stopping the clock in a time of 1:47.16. That offering sits just .26 off of his own lifetime beast of 1:46.90 he produced at the 2019 Hungarian National Championships.

Milak doubled up on events this evening, taking on the 100m fly as well. In this race, the 20-year-old wound up on top, getting his hands on the wall in a time of 51.14. Splitting 24.04/27.10, Milak registered the only sub-52 second outing of the field, with Poland’s Jakub Majerski snagging silver in 52.13.

Milak was the 100m fly silver medalist at 2017 Worlds. Last year he put up a lifetime best of 50.62 in Gwangju. Tonight’s 51.14 slides into his all-time personal performances at #4.

Boglarka Kapas, the women’s 200m fly who tested positive for coronavirus in April but recovered without any symptoms, beat the women’s 200m free field tonight. Kapas logged a winning effort of 1:59.62 to just hold off a charging Austrian in Marlene Kahler. Kahler settled for runner-up in 1:59.74, with the pair representing the only swimmers to get under 2:00 in the race.

Kapas was also in the women’s 100m fly later in the session, bringing up the bronze medal position in a time of 1:00.29. Winning the sprint fly was teammate Liliana Szilagyi, who grabbed gold in 59.70, while Paulina Peda sneaked in for silver in 59.76.

Multi-Olympic champion Katinka Hosszu put her talents on display, taking her signature 400m IM event by about 5 seconds this evening. Hosszu registered a time of 4:42.56 to get some racing under her belt set her baseline for Tokyo.

Behind her was fellow Hungarian Reka Nyiradi, who, after hitting a time of 4:46.42 in the morning, settled for silver in 4:47.08. Nyiradi is just 15 years of age and her morning swim checked in as a new personal best. Tonight’s outing is her 2nd fastest performance to date.

Additional Winners:

• Mainstay David Verraszto dropped over a second from his prelim effort to take the men’s 400m IM tonight in a time of 4:14.41. The veteran had some competition, as 17-year-old Hubert Kos held his own in the race, ultimately hitting a lifetime best of 4:15.77. Kos already posted a big-time 4:16.86 in the heats to stand 2nd to Verraszto, with the teen never before having been under the 4:20 threshold. Kos’ effort represents a new Hungarian Age Record in this event.
• 18-year-old Ajna Kesely warmed up with a 200m free bronze (2:00.66) before getting it done in the 1500m free after in the session. Touching in 16:30.35, Kesely was comfortably ahead of the field, with the next closest finisher represented by Kahler’s 16:36.83. Kesely took bronze in this grueling event at the 2018 European Championships where she logged a time of 16:03.22.
• Austrian national record holder Caroline Pilhatsch topped the women’s 50m backstroke field in a time of 28.03.
• Poland’s Kacper Stokowski produced a winning time of 25.53 to take the men’s edition of the 50m back.
• Also hailing from Poland, Dominika Sztandera touched in a time of 1:08.60 for the women’s 100m breaststroke gold. She owns the national record in a time of 1:07.92 from the 2017 Polish Championships.