2026 Hungarian National Championships
- April 15-19, 2026
- Prelims
- Day 1, 3, 5: 9:00 am local (3:00 am ET)
- Day 2 & 4: 10 am local (4:00 am ET)
- Finals — 5:30 pm local (11:30 am ET)
- Sopron, Hungary — Lővér Swimming Pool
- LCM (50 Meters)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Meet Central
- Live Results and Start Lists
- Livestreams on YouTube
- Day 1 Finals Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap/Day 3 Finals Recap/Day 4 Finals Recap
We’ve been watching 26-year-old world record holder and Olympic champion Kristof Milak closely this week as the Hungarian is racing in his first meet back since this time last year.
He’s already put up some solid marks in the prelims, semi-finals and finals of multiple events (see earlier recaps linked above) but the dynamo saved his best performances for the last day of these National Championships.
Milak kicked off his day with a morning swim in the men’s 50m free, where he notched a solid time of 22.11 to put the field on notice. That was already within striking distance of his best-ever outing of 21.89 in the event, a mark from the 2024 season.
Tonight, however, in the semi-final round, which kicked off the session at about 17:30 local time, Milak scorched a lifetime best of 21.76 to once again claim the top seed. That sliced .13 off the aforementioned prior PB to check the versatile ace in as Hungary’s 3rd-fastest man in history and situates him just outside the list of top 10 performers worldwide on the season.
Top 5 Hungarian Men’s LCM 50 Freestyle Performers All-Time
- Krisztian Takacs – 21.42, 2009
- Szebasztian Szabo – 21.60, 2022
- Kristof Milak – 21.76, 2026
- Maxim Lobanovskij – 21.77, 2020
- Nandor Nemeth – 21.87, 2026
Just about half an hour later, Milak dove in for the final of the men’s 100m fly, where he ripped a head-turning time of 50.22 to put to rest questions as to whether or not he was back to form.
Opening in 23.60 and closing in 26.62, Milak beat the pack by over 2 seconds.
Richard Marton was next ot the wall in 52.12 as 17-year-old David Antal hit a still impressive mark of 52.41. Of note, after taking down Milak’s 200m fly Hungarian age record in the 200m fly, Antal still sits well over a second outside Milak’s age benchmark of 50.61 established in 2017.
Milak’s 50.22 stunner tonight represents the 7th-best outing of his illustrious career, one which possesses a lifetime best of 49.68. He won gold at the 2024 Olympic Games in 49.90; however, his time this evening would have bagged the bronze.
Kristof Milak‘s Top 10 LCM 100 Fly Performances
- 49.68, July 2021
- 49.90, August 2024
- 50.14, June 23, 2022 & June 24, 2022
- –
- 50.18, May 2021
- 50.19, August 2024
- 50.22, 2026
- 50.31, July 2021
- 50.33, August 2022
- 50.38, August 2024
At about 18:38 local, Milak dove in for this last race of the competition, the final of the men’s 50m free. He added just slightly, getting to the wall in 21.79 for now his 2nd-best time ever.
He helped drive Nandor Nemeth to a new lifetime best of his own en route to silver, with the 26-year-old clocking 21.87 to represent Hungary’s 5th-fastest man of all time. Szebasztian Szabo rounded out the podium in 22.23.
Milak now overtakes American Shaine Casas to rank as the #1 swimmer in the world right now.
2025-2026 LCM Men 100 FLY
MILAK
50.22
| 2 | Shaine CASAS | USA | 50.24 | 12/05 |
| 3 | Ilya KHARUN | CAN | 50.40 | 12/05 |
| 4 | Matthew Temple | AUS | 50.50 | 06/09 |
| 5 | Dare ROSE | USA | 50.70 | 04/19 |
Video courtesy of @swimcoverage
🇭🇺Hungarian Nationals 2026
男子100Fly
クリストフ・ミラーク 50.22🇭🇺Kristof Milak
Welcome back!!😭😭😭100Fly 50.22 !!!!
今季世界ランク1位！！！！🙌🙌🙌🙌 https://t.co/LdHTbt3Uf9 pic.twitter.com/zvy3L28V9r— 競泳NEWS (@swimcoverage) April 19, 2026
He looked soooo happy after the race!!!
wow 17 strokes (16, 17) = insanity
That photo… does he usually come that far out of the water??? Unnatural
Stunner only if you make the mistake of doubting supreme ability level.
It’s not as if he is mid 30s and coming off a string of recent injuries
100 fly has always been by far his best event it’s the one he’s done best in even with the sus training
The explosiveness is obviously there
100m fly is easier to get in shape for than the 200m fly so he’s been faster there more recently. At his best Milak has always been better at the 200m fly, probably the best we’ve ever seen.
MP at 2010 nationals is a good parallel, went a textile best in the 100m fly (50.65) but was only 1:56.0 in the 200m fly
He has the WR. So, I’d say he’s definitely the best we’ve ever seen…
Phelps wasn’t in the best 200 fly form at that meet but he went 1:56 because it was right after the 200 free and he was tired.
At pan pacs he went 1:54.11 when dropping the 200 free.
Maybe he’s more focused on the 100 fly instead of the 200? Regardless this is really good to see!
I keep telling people that this has been his trajectory for a while now. I feel like he’s been showing that he wants to move down for a few years now.
Will he or Marchand get 1:49 first? 🫨
Marchand glazer
Why ?
Marchand or Urlando or Milak could potentially (I say it cause 1.49 is hard to achieve) reach it. But many factors have to take into account. Léon should race it individually and focus on it like his 200 IM in Singapore to have a chance to do it, but I’m not sure he would do that. Milak, with his natural butterfly talent, is the closest to succeed now with a good training and big motivation and Urlando is improving quickly so he might be in his grasp before or during L.A.
Hot take. 49.99 off the podium in LA.
Eh? Didn’t Liendo get 4th at worlds in 50.0?
Yeah, Milak, Grousset, Ponti and Liendo have all been sub 50 before, there’s a decent chance Dressel will be back by LA, and also a decent chance that Shaine, Ilya and Hubi will all be sub 50 by then. And that’s 8 people: a full finals field.