2021 HUNGARIAN SPRING NATIONALS
- March 23 – 27
- Budapest, Hungary (Danube Arena)
- LCM (50m)
- Full Meet Results
- Day 4 Finals Results
- Press Release
In the men’s 100 freestyle final on Friday morning at the 2021q Hungarian Spring Nationals, Kristóf Milák set a new Hungarian national record with a 48.00. That swim takes out Nándor Németh‘s previous mark of 48.08 and lowers Milák’s own PB in the event by nearly a second from the 48.89 that he swam yesterday in the prelims. Milák has been showing off his impressive versatility so far at this meet, having won the 200 fly (an event in which he currently holds the world record), as well as the 400 freestyle.
Following the race, Milak reacted by saying that despite the record he was “a little disappointed because [he] wanted to swim better” and that he wanted to be the first Hungarian to swim 100 freestyle under 48 seconds.
That echoes his sentiment after a 3:48 win in the 400 free, where he called his time “weak” and said he knew he needed to be better to compete internationally.
His coach, Attila Selmeci, on the other hand was happy with the swim saying that “it was a perfect swim. Kristóf started slowly in the preliminary race yesterday, but today everything went very well, including the start and the finish.”
Race Video:
Former national record holder Nándor Németh came in behind Milák with a 48.17 for the silver medal while Szebasztián Szabó was a 49.08 for bronze.
This meet is formally the country’s final qualifying opportunity for the Olympic Games, though there is some wiggle room in the selection procedures for coaches’ discretion.
Katinka Hosszú returned for finals this morning in the 400 IM and raced her way to a gold medal in the event, swimming a 4:42.25. That’s far off her own world record in the event which sits at 4:26.36 from the Rio Olympics in 2016. This morning’s swim for her is almost exactly the same as what she went earlier this year when she hit a 4:42.96 in Nice, France.
Reflecting on the race, Hosszú said:
“This is my second race this year, if we look at it that way, we are very early. There will be more competitions in Stockholm and Helsinki before the European Championships, and hopefully, there will be another bunch after that, such as in Rome before the Olympics. The goal with this one was to get used to racing. Fortunately, I am starting to feel better and better both mentally and technically. That seems good now, that’s what the work needs to be put on!”
Viktóri Mihályvári-Farkas came into the wall 6 seconds after Hosszú with a 4:48.93 for silver while Lia Csulák swam a 4:50.46 for bronze.
Dávid Verrasztó was around 6 seconds off his best time in the men’s 400 IM with a 4:13.57 to claim gold. Verrasztó has been a 4:07.47 before which he swam in Rome in 2017. Verrasztó shared after the race that he was quite happy with his breast split of 1:10.47.
Péter Bernek followed with a 4:14.70 for silver which was actually slower than his prelims swim last night where he recorded a new PB of 4:12.60, getting down from a 4:12.80.
Discussing his silver medal performance in the event, Bernek offered the following commentary:
“By far this is my best morning time. It was great, I enjoyed it! I think that was the maximum I could get out of this morning swim, but the point is that I finally managed to swim to an individual best yesterday afternoon.”
[At] the Olympics will have to be given 150 percent to get to the finals.”
Dániel Sós rounded out the top three in the 400 IM with a 4:16.91.
Ádám Telegdy picked up a gold in the men’s 200 backstroke this morning with a 1:57.90. Telegdy has been under 1:57 a number of times over the last couple of years, his best time hailing from a December 2020 swim of 1:56.34.
Bendegúz Kovács Benedek and Ádám Jászó also managed to get under the 2:00 mark this morning in the 200 backstroke, hitting 1:59.20 and 1:59.76 for silver and bronze, respectively.
OTHER FRIDAY FINALS (MORNING) RESULTS
- In the 200 breast, Dávid Horváth took gold for men (2:13.05) while Eszter Békési won for the women (2:28.19)
- Fanni Gyurinovics topped the women’s 100 freestyle field with a 55.56
- Katalin Burián was golden in the women’s 200 backstroke, swimming a 2:08.81 for the win
- Zsolt Sződi, Péter Csicsáky, Benedek Bóna, and Bálint Pap won the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay event with a 3:27.18
- The women’s contingent of Nikolett Pádár, Fanni Fábián, Bettina Fábián, and Luca Vas won the 4×100 relay with a 3:50.96
- Regina Nahalka, Tamás Takács, László Cseh, and Tamara Elekes won the mixed 4×100 freestyle relay with a 3:57.92
Guys, Kristóf will participate in 100 and 200 fly and in the relays most probably. He will have a busier schedule at the European Championships though.
200 free prelims are in:
Not bad for Nandor, hopefully there’s more to drop tomorrow.
Don´t rule out Kozma as the anchor man in the 4 X 200 relay in Tokyo – He is a beast 🙂
Kozma scratched out of the finals, so he can be ruled out for tomorrow at least.
I think Németh will be the anchor (remember Indianapolis).
Remarkable 51.52 in the 100 fly heats by 18 year-old Kos (Milak fastest time in 51.07).
Its quite decent indeed…Instantly thought that was the exact time, if memory serves me right, that Phelps swam at the same age in the semis in Barcelona 2003 which I believe was wr at the time…His 200IM time was very close to Phelps semi final swim as well 1:57.58 vs. 1:57.52, another wr back then. Just shows how much swimming has improved since then, they are quite good for an 18 year old now but nothing that special any more. I know Phelps improved on both those times at the same meet in the finals but this Kos guy seems to be an interesting one to watch in the future anyway.
Yes, he has nice versatility. I wonder what happened in the 400 IM. I thought that this would be his best shot at making an olympic final. As one hungarian star (Hosszu) seems to fade away, another one (Kos) seems to have emerged …
He is only 17 😉
(2003.03.28.)
Did this dude really just go a 48.00 while bilateral breathing??
Yeah Milak always does the bilateral breathing… does that make it more impressive or not Im not sure, someone enlighten me
Probably nobody cares, but there are several mistakes in this article regarding the relays. 4×100 free relays: Both the winners and their time is wrong (men and women). Today’s mixed relay was a medley relay not a freestyle relay. The winners’ names are good, but not their time.
Hungary ran for the 400m free relay medal candidate.
I wonder what will Milak do in the 100 fly and the 200 free today and tomorrow.
50 low and PB in the fly possibly?s
1:44 high in the 200 free? He himself definitely expects a 1:44 from himself, he said it today.
So far he only has an 1:46.68 as a PB. He swam that in December, when he was still recovering from covid.
I wonder how fast will he be now.
For some additional context, the GOAT only dipped under 48 three times, all in the LZR.
In textile, his bests are 48.08 and 48.13 leading off the free relays at 2011 Worlds and 2010 Pan Pacs. In 2007 (when he dropped that 1:43.8 hammer) he was “only” 48.42 leading off the relay (I say “only” as that was the fastest 100 free time in the whole meet, and would have won the individual final).
His 47 low relay splits at the 2012 and 2016 Games suggests that he could have done this sort of time then too.
Right, using Phelp’s 2007 100freestyle and 200fly times as a guide, the only real benchmark for Milak’s 200free would be Phelps’ 1:43.86. In theory Milak’s 100free and 200fly times are faster so in theory Milak could go faster in the 200free . But the world doesn’t work like that, but Phelps’ turns make up a great deal of that performance.
His underwaters, turns, and even breakouts improved noticeably since last year, he was nearly on par with Szabo after the start, who is a beast in that regards