Milak “Almost Threw Up” in the Call Room Before 1:51 200 Butterfly

2021 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Swimming: Monday, May 17th – Sunday, May 23rd
• Budapest, Hungary
• Prelims at 10:00 am local/Finals at 6:00 pm local
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Following his Championship record-breaking performance in the 200 butterfly, Hungarian world record holder Kristof Milak explained that he felt “tense” before the race, almost throwing up in the ready room. 

“I don’t know why but I got really tense in the call room, almost had to throw up,” Milak said. “This happens sometimes, especially before the 200m fly when I don’t feel that I’m in really good shape. I need that confidence before the top races so it was a kind of guessing what would happen here, it was a spontaneous swim, I may say.” 

Regarding his thought process throughout the race, Milak said that he “just wanted to control the technical part” of his stroke, and that he was motivated to pass Italian Federico Burdisso going into the final 50 of the race. Milak explained that he had little idea what time he had actually finished in, and was pleased with a 1:51. 

“Throughout the race I just wanted to control the technical part, I saw the Italian guy turning behind me before the last 50m so I thought my finish would be OK though I didn’t have any idea where we stood with the times. Well, at the end it turned out to be 1.51.1, so I cannot complain…”

As originally reported by James Sutherland 

MEN’S 200 FLY FINAL

• European Record: 1:50.73, Kristof Milak (HUN), 2019
• European Championship Record: 1:52.79, Kristof Milak (HUN), 2018
• FINA ‘A’ Cut: 1:56.48

1. Kristof Milak (HUN), 1:51.10 CR
2. Federico Burdisso (ITA), 1:54.28
3. Tamas Kenderesi (HUN), 1:54.43

Kristof Milak may have lulled us into a false sense of security through the early rounds of the men’s 200 fly.

After a pair of easy 1:54s, the Hungarian world record holder dropped the second-fastest swim in history to defend his European title, dropping a 1:51.10. The showing smashes his Championship Record of 1:52.79 set in 2018, and overtakes his 1:51.40 from earlier this year for #1 in the 2020-21 world rankings.

All three medalists are the same as they were three years ago in Glasgow, with Federico Burdisso and Tamas Kenderesi just switching places.

Burdisso moves up from bronze to silver with his time of 1:54.28, breaking his Italian Record of 1:54.39 in the process. Burdisso was a clear second at the 150, up by 1.38 seconds on Kenderesi, but struggled down the last lap in 31.32, narrowly holding off the Hungarian by .15.

Fourth and fifth-place finishers Antani Ivanov and Noe Ponti lowered their respective Bulgarian and Swiss National Records in 1:54.50 and 1:55.18.

Other Quotes:

• Following her victory in the women’s 100 breaststroke, Sophie Hansson stated, “I feel amazing, this is a dream come true. Honestly, I’m speechless… But I feel very grateful for all those around me – only a few weeks ago I tried to get my time under 1:07 and now I’m under 1:06 so all my hard training paid off. I’m really excited for the future.”
• Although he was upset in his signature 1500m freestyle race, Italian distance star Gregorio Paltrinieri said that he is satisfied with his time, “I tried to start off strong and see how it goes. Somewhere halfway I started feeling tiredness, probably because of the open water races last week. For now, 14:42 is a very good time, I’m really satisfied. Looking at the summer, this is a great starting point.”
• Russian sprinter Kliment Kolesnikov commented on missing the finals of the 100m backstroke shortly after winning the 100 freestyle, stating, “I was just tired. It’s something can happen to you. It was our common decision with my coach to swim the back as we hoped I could do it. It turned out that I could not at this moment. Anyway, we are not giving up the idea for the Olympics but we will work more on it.”