2023 HUNGARIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Kristof Milak picked up his third individual title in as many days with a 1:46.68 in the men’s 200-meter freestyle final at the Hungarian National Championships on Friday.
The 23-year-old reached the wall under the automatic qualifying standard for the World Championships (1:47.06) and the Olympic consideration time, but he’s still a few tenths away from the Olympic ‘A’ cut of 1:46.26. Milak now ranks 17th this season in the event.
His lifetime best in the 200 free still stands at 1:45.74 from the 2021 European Championships, just a couple tenths off Dominik Kozma’s national record from 2017. There still haven’t been any Hungarian national records set this year.
Nandor Nemeth placed second behind Milak in the 200 free with a 1:47.13, less than a tenth shy of the Worlds ‘A’ cut.
Milak dove back into the pool just a few events later for the men’s 50 fly final, where he took silver in 23.27 behind Szebasztian Szabo’s 22.93. Szabo, 27, was just .03 off his national record from 2019. It was Milak’s second day in a row pulling a double as he won the 200 fly on Thursday in a world-leading 1:52.58 before placing second in the 50 free soon after. On Wednesday, he also triumphed in the 100 free (48.40).
In other highlights from Kaposvar, Nikolett Padar punched her ticket to Worlds in the women’s 200 free with a 1:57.81, clearing the Worlds ‘A’ cut by almost a second. The 17-year-old reigning world junior champion was just .01 off her lifetime best from last year’s European Championships. Runner-up Ajna Kesely also finished under the Worlds ‘A’ cut with a 1:58.21, exactly four-tenths behind Padar.
30-year-old Boglarka Kapas won the women’s 400 IM with a 4:40.12, but the most notable result from the race was runner-up Vivien Jackl. Just 14 years old, Jackl clocked a 4:42.96 to sneak under the Worlds ‘A’ cut by a tenth, dropping more than three seconds off her previous best from the 2021 Hungarian Junior Nationals. Her time would rank third in the U.S. girls’ 13-14 national age group (NAG) rankings behind Katie Hoff (4:39.82) and Becca Mann (4:39.76).
In the men’s 400 IM, Gabor Zombori cruised to a seven-second victory with a time of 4:14.14, easily clearing the Worlds ‘A’ cut by more than three seconds.
Eszter Bekesi finished four seconds ahead of the field in the women’s 200 breast, but she narrowly missed the Worlds ‘A’ cut by half a second with her winning time of 2:26.45. The 21-year-old was about a second slower than her best time of 2:25.49 from the 2019 World Junior Championships.
University of Wisconsin freshman Dominik Torok took the men’s 200 breast title in 2:16.31, a couple second slower than his personal-best 2:14.43 from the 2021 Hungarian Nationals and six seconds off the Worlds ‘A’ cut. 23-year-old Monika Olle (27.06) held off Lora Komoroczy (27.25) for the women’s 50 fly title, though both were off the Worlds ‘A’ cut of 26.32. Olle’s personal best is a 26.67 from the 2020 Hungarian Nationals.
