2024 MARE NOSTRUM – BARCELONA
At the second stop of the Mare Nostrum Tour in Barcelona, Spain, world record holder Kristof Milak suffered just his second long-course meter (LCM) 200 butterfly defeat as an adult with a runner-up finish in 1:55.67 behind Korea’s Kim Minseop (1:55.47).
The 24-year-old Hungarian was slower than his season-best 1:54.90 from the Hungarian Championships in April. Milak’s only other loss in the LCM 200 fly came while recovering from COVID-19 at a domestic competition in December of 2020, when he placed 2nd (1:54.98) behind Tamas Kenderesi (1:54.64). He had never lost his signature event on the senior international stage before Thursday.
But it wasn’t all bad news this week as he also clocked a season-best 50.95 100 fly on Wednesday, tying his own Mare Nostrum record from 2021. The 2024 Mare Nostrum Tour marks Milak’s first time racing internationally since the 2022 European Championships to “step back” and “recharge the batteries.”
On Thursday, Milak’s coach, Balazs Virth, offered an outlook that wasn’t exactly promising given recent reports in Hungarian media about missed training sessions.
“I can say the same thing I said after the national championship: Kristóf is strong and fast, but his endurance is far from what it used to be,” Virth reportedly said, translated from Hungarian. “This is a direct consequence of the training work he has done so far.
“Maybe outsiders think he is capable of a miracle, but today’s swimming has shown that there are laws in this sport that are difficult to override,” Virth continued. “Although Paris is the goal, it has to be said that what has happened so far contains traces of Olympic preparation.
“The shorter distances at the (Hungarian Championships) went relatively well, because he had pushed hard in training camp before, and now also because he pushed hard in Turkey, but his two-and-a-half week layoff after the (Hungarian Championships) came back to haunt him today,” Virth added. “That said, he swam the 200 smartly, with a good schedule, but the second 50 was definitely slow. I asked him to try to keep his concentration for the next stage in Monte-Carlo, and then the final will be better.”
Milak set the 200 fly world record of 1:50.34 in front of an electric home crowd at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest. He has appeared unbeatable in his signature event since setting a world record of 1:50.73 at the 2019 World Championships. Milak followed up with an Olympic record of 1:51.25 in Tokyo a few years ago.
This year’s Mare Nostrum Tour concludes Saturday and Sunday in Monaco.
