By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
2021 FINA WORLD CUP STOP #2 – BUDAPEST
Thursday, October 7th – Saturday, October 9th
Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
SCM (25m)
SwimSwam Preview
Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
Kristof Milak delighted the home fans with his first victory of the meet on Day 2 of the FINA World Cup stop in Budapest on Friday, claiming the men’s 50 backstroke title and setting a new Hungarian Record in the process.
Milak, 21, had first broken the record in the morning preliminaries, clocking 23.34 to erase the previous mark of 23.39 set by Richard Bohus in 2019.
In the final, Milak turned things up a notch by throwing down a time of 23.08, knocking a further .26 off the record while winning the race by a similar margin.
Australian Zac Incerti was the runner-up in 23.36, while another Hungarian, Szebasztian Szabo, took third in 23.47.
Milak’s prelim swim marked his first best time in the event in three years, having set his previous PB of 23.49 at the 2018 Hungarian SC Championships.
Milak is primarily known for his butterfly prowess, as the current Olympic champion, world champion and world record holder in the men’s 200 butterfly (LCM), plus the second-fastest man ever and Olympic silver medalist in the 100 fly.
He’s also an elite freestyler, but clearly has a high-end backstroking ability as well, with his world-class underwater dolphin kick certainly playing a role in the short course pool.
While Milak narrowly misses reaching the top 25 all-time performers with his swim, he does move into 16th all-time among Europeans, and also ranks fifth in the world this season.
On Day 1 of the meet, Milak placed second in the 100 butterfly (49.92) and fifth in the 50 freestyle (21.44), and is also slated to race the 100 free final later on Friday. On Saturday, Milak is entered to race the 50 fly and 200 free.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Kristof Milak Knocks Hungarian SCM 50 Back Record Down To 23.08 In Budapest
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