17-Year-Old Diogo Ribeiro Lowers His 100 Fly Portuguese Record to 51.61 in Semis

2022 EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, August 11 – Wednesday, August 17, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Rome, Italy
• Parco Del Foro Italico
• LCM (50m)
• Start Times
  • Prelims: 9:00 am local / 3:00 am ET
  • Finals: 6:00 pm local / 12:00 pm ET
• Meet Central
• Event Schedule
• Entries
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Day 3 Finals Heat Sheet

DAY 3 FINALS HEAT SHEET

The big story from Saturday’s 100 butterfly semifinals was the stamina of Hungarian sensation Kristof Milak, who clocked a 51.01 just about 15 minutes after going 47.47 in the 100 free. Lost in the shuffle of a busy session was Diogo Matos Ribeiro’s 51.61 in the 100 fly, which lowered his own Portuguese national record and brought the 17-year-old less than a second shy of Milak’s world junior record (50.62). 

Ribeiro was .7 seconds faster than his previous best from April’s Danish Open, a huge improvement for the rising young talent. His previous mark had taken down the oldest remaining Portuguese men’s record on the books belonging to Diogo Carvalho, who blazed a 52.42 back in 2009 at the end of the super-suit era. 

MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – SEMIFINALS

• World Record: 49.50, Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 2019
• European Record: 49.68, Kristof Milak (HUN) – 2022
• European Championship Record: 50.18, Kristof Milak (HUN) – 2021
• 2020 European Champion: Kristof Milak (HUN), 50.18

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Kristof Milak (HUN) – 51.01
2. Noe Ponti (SUI) – 51.16
3. Nyls Korstanje (NED) – 51.46
4. Jakub Majerski (POL) – 51.58
5. Diogo Matos Ribeiro (POR) – 51.61 (TIE)
6. Matteo Rivolta (ITA) – 51.61 (TIE)
7. Simon Bucher (AUT) – 51.62
8. Hubert Kos (HUN) – 51.69

Ribeiro also dipped under the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying standard of 51.67, although the qualifying period doesn’t begin until next March. 

He split nearly identical on the back half of the race, but his first 50 was more than half a second faster than his previous-best performance. 

Splits comparison

After becoming the first Portuguese man to break the 52-second barrier on Saturday, it might not be long before he also becomes the first to go under 51 seconds given his latest time drop. 

Ribeiro will have a chance to reset his own record again in tomorrow’s finals and continue his impressive performance at the meet. On Friday, he lowered his Portuguese record in the 50 fly with a 23.07 en route to a bronze medal, coming just .02 seconds shy of Russian swimmer Andrei Minakov’s world junior record. He also improved on his national record in the 100 free, bringing it down to 48.52 in the semis.