Sette Colli, Day 3: Kristof Milak Sets Hungarian Record in 50 Fly
Kristof Milak’s results between Olympic Games have been up and down, when he’s been at the pool at all. But the two-time Olympic gold medalist may be rounding into form.
Milak finished second in the men’s 50 butterfly at Sette Colli on Sunday. But his time of 22.86 was a personal-best and a Hungarian record, breaking new ground for the world record holder in the 200 fly.
The third day of the meet in Rome started out with American Gretchen Walsh downing the world record in the women’s 50 freestyle, taking the mark away from training partner and countrywoman Kate Douglass nine days after Douglass went 23.59 in Indianapolis. Walsh was .04 under that in 23.55 in a quick succession.
That made for a fast start to the afternoon in the first final of the final session in Rome. All the action:
Women’s 50 freestyle
Gretchen Walsh is inevitable. More about that here, but she wasn’t the only one.
Behind Walsh’s record-setting 23.55, Sarah Sjostrom showed her comeback from maternity leave is on the right track. The Swedish start went 23.86, .25 off her world record (and still European record) from 2023. Sara Curtis lowered her Italian record by two tenths to 24.09.
Fourth was Arina Surkova, swimming as a neutral athlete, in 24.60. Slovenia’s Neza Klancar was fifth in 24.72. Silvia Di Pietro led three Italians rounding out the A final in 24.77 for sixth.
Men’s 200 backstroke
Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov got to the wall first in the 200 back, his time of 1:57.32 holding off John Shortt of Ireland. Shortt went 1:57.73, rising from fourth to second on the third 50. But Mityukov split 29.98 coming home to hold on.
Benedek Kovacs of Hungary was third in 1:57.76 with the quickest final 50 of the bunch in 29.85. Four of the final finalists were Italians, led by a 1:58.25 from Mattia Morello in fourth.
Women’s 200 backstroke
Italian Aurora Velati won a relatively slow 200 back in a time of 2:12.57. Anna Conti was second in 2:13.30, with Hungary’s Dora Molnar third in 2:13.67. Gaia Monti was fourth in 2:13.91, one of five Italian in the A final.
Men’s 50 butterfly
Noe Ponti dashed off a time of 22.73 to get the win in the 50 fly. It’s just two tenths off his best of 22.51, which is the Swiss record.
But Kristof Milak’s performance was just as eye-opening, in part given Ponti’s ridiculous consistency. Milak set a best time in 22.86, undercutting his best from earlier this spring at 23.03. It takes down the 2019 national record of Szebasztian Szabo (22.90). And it marks perhaps an evolution for the 200 fly specialist to be more of a player in the sprints.
Now 26, the one-time prodigy and four-time Olympic medalist hasn’t been in the water all that much between medal-winning games. But perhaps the sprints offer a pathway. Milak hasn’t medaled in a major international meet in the 50 fly as a senior swimmer, the last accolades coming in 2017 at the World Junior and European Junior Championships. The world record holder over 200 meters of fly also holds all three national marks in the stroke.
Third place went to Stergios-Marios Bilas of Greece in 23.08, just .08 off his best time/national record from last summer’s Worlds. Gui Caribe of Brazil was fourth in 23.20. A pair of neutral athletes followed, with Roman Shevlyakov fifth in 23.22 and Oleg Kostin .01 seconds behind. Germany’s Nik Armbruster (23.36) and Jere Hribar of Croatia (23.40) rounded out the top eight.
Women’s 200 butterfly
Ellen Walshe picked up a win with a furious final 50, the Irishwoman going 2:08.02. She surged from sixth at 150 meters to the win with a final 50 of 23.11 seconds, more than a second quicker than anyone in the field. Walshe was within six tenths of her national record of 2:07.48.
The last swimmer she passed was Helena Rosendahl Bach, the Danish swimmer second in 2:08.15. Third was Italy’s Paolo Borrelli in 2:08.63, with countrywoman Sofia Sartori the only other swimmer to break 2:10 in 2:09.91 for fourth.
Belgium’s Sarah Dumont won the B final in 2:10.15, a time that was fifth-fastest overall in the finals session.
Men’s 200 breaststroke
Caspar Corbeau was first at each wall to ease to a comprehensive win in the men’s 200 breast. The Dutchman won in 2:09.02. He was nearly a second ahead of Christian Mantegazza’s 2:10.00 that finished second.
Third was Karem Ilyem of Turkey, who went 2:11.27. It included the fastest final 50 at 33.63 to vault him from fifth at midway to bronze. Italy’s Andrea Prapugicu was fourth, followed by Filip Mujan of Croatia and Adam Chillingworth of Hong Kong.
Women’s 200 breaststroke
Speaking of Irish swimmers in great form, Mona McSharry added another 2:22 of this spring with a time of 2:22.71 to win. McSharry had lowered her national record to 2:22.22 at Irish Championships in April.
She needed all of that speed to pull out a win. Her final 50 split of 37.68 took her past Tes Schouten by .18 seconds, the Dutchwoman going 2:22.89 for second. Third place went to Lithuania’s Kotryna Teterevkova in 2:24.61.
Lisa Angiolini led the four Italians in finals by finishing fourth in 2:25.07. Ellie McCartney of Ireland broke that blockade in fifth in 2:25.37.
Men’s 200 freestyle
David Popovici continued to perform well at a venue he seems to prefer, lowering his meet record in the 200 free. Popovici won in 1:44.48, destroying the 1:45.49 he set at this meet in 2023. The Romanian was first at ever wall. He came home in 26.68, taking seven tenths out of the rest of the field on that leg alone.
A distant second was Carlos D’Ambrosio, the Italian record holder nearly two seconds back in 1:46.41. Great Britain’s Jack McMillan finished third in 1:46.71, D’Ambrosio nine tenths quicker than him in the final 50. Fourth was Tomas Lukminas of Lithuania in 1:47.37.
Italy added four more 1:47s to their relay pool, with Marco De Tullio fifth in 1:47.54 and Jacopo Barbotti winning the B final in 1:47.79.
Women’s 400 freestyle
Simona Quadarella was in complete control of the final of the 400 free with her time of 4:05.10. She went to the front on the first 50 and never relinquished it, then came home with the second-fastest 50 in the field in 30.20 to win by more than five seconds.
The battle was for second, with Elisa Pignotti of Italy outtouching Brazil’s Maria Paula Heitmann by two tenths in 4:10.39. Pignotti came back in 30.34, sixth tenths quicker than Heitmann.
Fourth was Antoinetta Cesarino, her 4:11.13 leading three Italians in the 4:11s.
Men’s 200 IM
Italian record holder Alberto Razzetti showed why, winning the race in 1:57.83. He seized the lead in breaststroke with a field-best split of 33.32 (only three others even split in the 34s), then came home in 28.25, second-best in the race.
Second was countryman Simone Spediacci in 1:59.32. He held off the charge of a pair of Hungarians, with Dominik Mark Torok improving from fifth to third in the final 50 in 1:59.63, a tenth up on compatriot Gabor Zombori. Massimiliano Matteazzi of Italy was fifth in 2:00.20.
Women’s 200 IM
On a day when her sister set a world record, Alex Walsh dominated not-her-sister Ellen Walshe to pick up a win in 2:09.05. The American took the lead early in backstroke and never relented it.
Ellen Walshe was second in 2:11.40 to cap a tough double. Sara Franceschi was third in 2:12.11, followed by countrywoman Chiara Della Corte’s 2:12.85. Fifth went to Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium in 2:13.77, followed by near world record-holder Marrit Steenbergen’s 2:14.33 for sixth.
In winning the B final in 2:13.14, Greece’s Nikoletta Pavlopoulou lowered her national record by .15 seconds.
Men’s 1,500 freestyle
Matteo Diodato capped the day by winning the 1,500 free in 14:53.73. He was 10.01 seconds ahead of countryman Luca De Tullio. Third was Vasileios Kakoulakis of Greece in 15:08.88.
A distant sixth was Daniel Wiffen, the Irishman going 15:17.45. Gregorio Paltrinieri was even further back in seventh in 15:22.32.