Milak Takes 200 Free, 15-Yr-Old Jackl Rips 4:34.96 400 IM On Day 4 Of Hungarian Nats

2024 HUNGARIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 9th – Friday, April 12th
• Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
• Prelims at 9am local (3am ET), Finals at 5pm local (11am ET)
• SwimSwam Preview #1/Preview #2
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Prelims Recap
• Start Lists/Results
• Livestream (Prelims)

Day 4 of the 2024 Hungarian National Championships saw 24-year-old Kristof Milak flip his results from the morning heats.

Whereas this morning he was #2 in the 200m free and #1 in the 50m fly, he grabbed the gold in the former event tonight in a result of 1:48.15.

Splitting 24.92/28.36/28.72/26.15 (spicy!), Milak got to the wall about half a second ahead of runner-up Attila Kovacs who clocked 1:48.63. Nandor Nemeth rounded out the podium in 1:49.03.

Milak’s lifetime best in the 200m free rests at the 1:45.74 put on the books at the 2021 European Championships. He produced an outing of 1:46.68 at last year’s edition of this competition to fall just over half a second outside the World Aquatics Olympic Qualification Time of 1:46.26.

Next on Milak’s schedule was the 50m fly where he settled for silver in a result of 23.44, the 2nd-best time of his career. His PB remains at the 23.27 notched at the 2023 Hungarian Nationals.

Beating Milak was SCM 50 fly world record holder Szebasztian Szabo who clocked 23.32. That’s off his season-best of 23.16 produced at the 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Budapest.

With this meet representing his comeback to competitive racing after a prolonged period off, Milak’s results thus far at these Nationals are now as follows:

• 50m free – 21.89 Olympic Qualification
• 100m free – 48.38
• 200m free – 1:48.15
• 50m fly – 23.44
• 200m fly – 1:54.90 Olympic Qualification

18-year-old Nikolett Padar made her presence known in the women’s 200m free, capturing gold in a solid effort of 1:56.83. That fell within striking distance of her best-ever, a mark of 1:56.17 put on the books at the Budapest World Cup stop to qualify for Paris.

Padar split 27.60/30.04/30.04/29.15 to handily defeat the field, with the next-closet swimmer represented by Dora Molnar. Molnar hit 1:58.96 while Panna Ugrai bagged bronze in 1:59.84.

Gabor Zombori already nailed a Paris 2024-worthy result in the men’s 200m IM but the 21-year-old fell short of the qualifying time in the 400m IM tonight.

Zombori won decisively, clocking a time of 4:12.70 to clear the field by nearly 3 seconds. His outing represented a big-time personal best, crushing the 4:14.14 logged at the 2023 Hungarian Nats. However, the World Aquatics Olympic Qualification Time sits at 4:12.50 so he was just .20 outside the mark.

Balazs Hollo wrangled up silver in 4:15.93 but he wasn’t alone, as Dominik Torok tied him as the runner-up in an identical time. 4th place went to ASU NCAA champion the 1500m free, Zalan Sarkany in 4:16.14.

Finally, the women’s 400m IM saw 15-year-old Vivien Jackl rip the best time of her career en route to establishing a new Hungarian Age Record for 16&U.

Jackl stopped the clock at 4:34.96 to rip her previous PB of 4:40.66 from last year to shreds.

The teen split 1:02.98/1:07.22/1:22.51/1:02.36 to claim the gold ahead of veteran Boglarka Kapas, with Kapas registering 4:38.92.

Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas rounded out the podium in 4:39.43, Italy’s Francesca Fresia was 4th in 4:41.57 and former world record holder Katinka Hosszu finished 5th in 4:47.62.

Jackl’s effort rendered the teen Hungary’s #3 performer of all time in this women’s 400m IM.

Top 5 Hungarian Women LCM 400 IM Performers All-Time

1. Katinka Hosszu – 4:26.36, 2016
2. Zsuzsanna Jakabos – 4:34.50, 2013
3. Vivien Jackl – 4:34.96, 2024
4. Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas – 4:35.99, 2021
5. Eva Riszto – 4:36.17, 2002

Jackl now ranks #3 in the world on the season and punches her ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. For additional perspective, Jackl’s result would rank her 4th among all-time performing American 15-16-year-old girls.

Hosszu is still gunning for a slot on the Hungarian roster for a potential 6th Olympic Games.

Additional Notes

• Austrian Christopher Rothbauer topped the men’s 200m breast in a time of 2:13.32 to beat the field by over 2 seconds.
• Eszter Bekesi snagged the women’s 200m breast gold in 2:28.45.
• Two women dipped under the 27-second threshold in the 50m fly, led by Lora Fanni Komoroczy. She put up 26.87 to hold off Italy’s Elena Di Liddo who settled for silver in 26.94

Hungarian Olympic Qualifiers

Men

• 50m free – Szebasztian Szabo (21.89, 2023 Helsinki Swim Meet), Kristof Milak (21.89, 2024 Hungarian Nationals)
• 100m free – Nandor Nemeth (47.78, 2024 World Championships)
• 400m free – Kristof Rasovszky (3:46.77, 2024 World Championships)
• 800m free – Kristof Rasovszky (7:44.42, 2024 World Championships), David Betlehem (7:48.06, 2024 World Championships)
• 1500m free – David Betlehem (14:46.44, 2024 World Championships), Zalan Sarkany (14:53.19, 2023 Gyor Open)
• 100m back – Hubert Kos (53.19, 2023 U.S. Open), Adam Jaszo (53.35, Gyor Open)
• 200m back – Hubert Kos (1:55.95, 2024 World Championships), Adam Telegdy (1:56.65, 2024 World Championships)
• 100m fly – Kristof Milak (50.80, 2023 Hungarian Nationals), Hubert Kos (51.59, 2023 U.S. Open)
• 200m fly – Kristof Milak (1:52.58, 2023 Hungarian Nationals), Richard Marton (1:55.76, 2024 World Championships)
• 200m IM – Hubert Kos (1:57.88, 2023 U.S. Open), Gabor Zombori (1:57.88, 2024 Hungarian Nationals)

Women

• 200m free – Nikolett Padar (1:56.17, 2023 World Cup Budapest)
• 400m free – Ajna Kesely (4:06.35, 2023 Hungarian Nationals)
• 800m free – Ajna Kesely (8:26.04, 2023 Sette Colli Trophy)
• 200m back – Eszter Szabo-Feltothy (2:09.42, 2024 World Championships), Dora Molnar (2:10.31, 2024 World Championships)
• 100m breast – Henrietta Fangli (1:07.50, 2024 Hungarian Nationals)
• 200m fly – Boglarka Kapas (2:08.15, 2024 Hungarian Nationals)
• 200m IM – Dalma Sebestyen (2:10.87, 2023 Gyor Open)
• 400m IM – Viven Jackl (4:34.96, 2024 Hungarian Nationals)