We’re just one day away from the second stop of the 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Series with action set to kick off tomorrow, October 13th, from Athens, Greece.
2023 Swimming World Cup Series
- October 6-8: Berlin, Germany
- October 13-15: Athens, Greece
- October 20-22: Budapest, Hungary
As with the initial Berlin stop, Hungarian World Record holder Kristof Milak will not be present, having withdrawn from the competitions.
We reported earlier how a source told SwimSwam that things hadn’t gone as smoothly as Milak might’ve hoped in his return to training and he’ll only race in the third and final stop of the series in his hometown of Budapest.
23-year-old Milak only recently made his return to heavy training after withdrawing from the 2023 World Championships due to mental and physical fatigue. He took a 2+ month break from training, getting back to training just last month.
Speaking to M4 Sport this week, Milak said of his hiatus, “During those two and a half months, I tried to rest as much as possible, to withdraw from swimming and not to deal with it at all. I got back up in September, but not with such a serious effort as I usually do.” (M4Sport)
Milak’s coach Balázs Virth indicated that the pair consider the World Cup stop in Budapest a test competition. Milak is not expected to race his signature 200m butterfly but instead will be entered in the 50m fly, 100m fly, and the 50m/100m/200m freestyle.
Said Virth, “Swimmers usually miss three or four weeks after a world competition, after which they start preparing again. He hasn’t done high-level work for practically three months, he has to get back into it, so it’s going a little slower.
“This sport requires strength, endurance and speed, we don’t have any of these yet. We are in the process of acquiring them, so I think that the old Kristóf Milák won’t be quite the old Kristóf Milák at the Budapest World Cup.” (M4Sport)
However, being out of form isn’t particularly worrying for Milak as the Olympic champion is laser-focused on the next Games in Paris 2024.
“Only one race really matters,” he said. “Apart from that I really don’t care about anything else. Let’s have the Paris Olympics, then we can talk.”
there is a mistake: 50/100/200 freestyle, and not breaststroke in the original article.
I’d even sit out the 100 fly if I were him. No matter where you are in training, it can be tough mentally to lose and might start doubting whether you can ever catch back up. I would stick to off events where only you can gauge where your training is…I doubt the public will have much to say if he swims 1:00 vs. 1:03 but his coach will likely find value in the times.
He is not even training at the moment… so his coach can’t say anything about his time.
200 Fly event is a tough event when you’re not in shape. At least it’s good to see him back!