European Aquatics Championships: Kristof Milak records second-fastest time in history to take 200m butterfly gold

Hungary’s Kristof Milak recorded the second-fastest time in history (1:51.10s) as he claimed the men’s 200m butterfly gold medal at the European Aquatics Championships on Wednesday.

The world record is also under Milak’s name, who clocked 1:50.73s at the World Championships two years back in Gwangju.

Starting in lane 5 at the European Aquatics Championships, Milak showed superb form right from the start before edging Italian Federico Burdisso (1:54.28s) by just three seconds. Milak’s compatriot Tamas Kenderesi rounded off the podium with 1:54.43s.

Having been ousted from the 100m prelims, Milak came back strong in his pet 200m butterfly event. The local favorite went neck-to-neck with just 0.07s separating him and Burdisso at the halfway stage. But the youngster switched gears on the third lap to overtake his rival on his way to the gold.

#aquatics2020bp 🇭🇺SWIMMING 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️M 200 Fly🥇 Kristof Milak 🇭🇺🥈 Federico Burdisso 🇮🇹🥉 Tamas Kenderesi 🇭🇺RESULTS https://t.co/m2r6qac9lY⚠️ 35th LEN Aquatics Championships - Budapest 2020📍 Budapest, Duna Aréna📅 May 10th-23th, 2021#LENaquatics pic.twitter.com/gXA3U92LiN

— LEN EuropeanAquatics (@LENaquatics) May 19, 2021

In the men’s 100m freestyle final, Russian Kliment Kolesnikov won gold in 47.37s. He had broken the world record in the 50m backstroke a day earlier.

Italian Alessandro Miressi took silver with 47.45s while Andrei Minakov settled for bronze in 47.74s. However, the men’s 100m freestyle medal ceremony had to be delayed after Kolesnikov injured himself in the 100m backstroke semifinals.

#aquatics2020bp 🇭🇺SWIMMING 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️M 100m Free🥇 Kliment Kolesnikov 🇷🇺🥈 Alessandro Miressi 🇮🇹🥉 Andrei Minakov 🇷🇺RESULTS https://t.co/m2r6qac9lY⚠️ 35th LEN Aquatics Championships - Budapest 2020📍 Budapest, Duna Aréna📅 May 10th-23th, 2021#LENaquatics pic.twitter.com/HWggfIUTag

— LEN EuropeanAquatics (@LENaquatics) May 19, 2021

Meanwhile, another local, 35-year-old Laszlo Cseh, made headlines by becoming the first swimmer to compete in 10 long course European Championships. He qualified for the men’s 200 individual medley final.

Italy shines at the European Aquatics Championships

In the women’s 100m breaststroke final, Swede Sophie Hansson clinched gold with 1:05.69s. The silver went to Italian Arianna Castiglioni (1:06.13s), who finished just 0.07s ahead of third-placed compatriot Martina Carraro.

In the men’s 1500m, Mykhaylo Romanchuk clocked 14:39.89s to bag gold. The Italian pair of Gregorio Paltrinieria and Domenico Acerenza took silver and bronze in 14:42.91s and 14:54.36s respectively.

Russia currently leads the European Aquatics Championships medal tally with five gold medals. Great Britain is second with three golds in their kitty.