FINA CHAMPIONS SWIM SERIES 2019 #2 – BUDAPEST
- May 11-12, 2019
- Budapest, Hungary
- LCM
- FINA Champions Series Info
- Entry List
- Live Stream (NBC Sports) – May 11th
- Live Stream (Olympic Channel) – May 12th
- Live Stream (FINA TV)
- Live Results (Omega)
The reigning World Junior Record holder and Hungarian National Champion Kristof Milak put on a show in front of his home country while competing on night 1 of the FINA Champions Series.
This 2nd stop of the 3-meet circuit is taking place in Budapest, so the crowd was extra enthusiastic with the men’s 200m fly race as the 2 of the 4 competitors hail from Hungary. Milak took the gold and top monetary price of $10,000 in a 1:53.64 stunner, establishing his 4th fastest outing ever in this event.
Milak sat in 2nd place after the first 100m, led by South Africa’s Chad Le Clos. Le Clos busted out a 54.58 opener, only to fade to 3rd in a final time of 1:55.95, characteristically looking around at the field all the while.
Surprising Le Clos for silver was Japan’s Masato Sakai, the 23-year-old Japanese Olympic silver medalist who fell just hundredths shy of Michael Phelps’ gold in this race in Rio. Look for a follow-up post on Sakai’s performance shortly, as his 1:55.40 runner-up time is a season-best for him.
After Le Clos in 3rd, Laszlo Cseh clocked 1:56.83 for 4th, still a very respectable time for the never-say-die 33-year-old veteran who will be competing in Gwangju in the 50m and 100m distances of this discipline at the World Championships.
Going back to Milak, the 19-year-old’s WJR sits at 1:53.79 from 2017 and the ace recently put down another wicked-fast performance of 1:53.19 at the Hungarian Nationals this past March. That outing remains as the top time in the world this season and sets the Hungarian up as the man to beat in Gwangju.
Any info on why the 1:52,71 isnt the official wjr?