On Tuesday, 18 June Kristóf Milák delivered an Olympic-level performance in the 100m freestyle semi-finals at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade. The 2022 European silver medallist recorded a time of 48.26 seconds, meeting the qualification standard for the Paris Olympics, which is set at 48.34 seconds.
Nándor Németh, another Hungarian competitor and bronze medallist in the 100m freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, excelled in the second heat with an impressive time of 48.05 seconds. Németh’s performance was only surpassed by Romanian star David Popovici, positioning Németh third overall and Milák fourth.
Reflecting on his performance, Németh remarked: ‘I have seen the times the top two swam at the US trials; they had 47-second starts, so I felt I had to get my act together five weeks before the Olympics. I would like to cut down a bit more tomorrow; the second fifty was very encouraging.
I think it will be a very good fight for the gold medal.’
Despite facing challenges in his recent training sessions, Németh’s current form is promising. On Monday, he also swam an Olympic-level time in the 200m freestyle relay, although he has decided not to compete in that event in Paris. Milák was unavailable for press comments following the race.
In the women’s 50m butterfly, Lora Komoróczy improved her personal best by three-hundredths of a second, clocking 26.86 seconds. However, this was only enough to place her 15th overall, failing to secure a spot in the final.
The men’s 200m backstroke featured Ádám Telegdy and Benedek Kovács, both competing for the last three Olympic spots at the European Aquatics Championships. Telegdy, who finished fifth in Tokyo, holds a narrow lead over Kovács in the national Olympic rankings with times of 1:55.57 and 1:55.85, respectively. The leader, Hubert Kós, the 2023 world champion in Fukuoka, did not compete in this event.
Adding to Hungary’s successes, Ajna Késely claimed a gold medal in the 800m freestyle. The 22-year-old Hungarian initially kept pace with the leading group but then surged ahead to finish in 8:29.96, over three and a half seconds ahead of her competitors. This victory marked Késely’s first European title and the first gold medal for the Hungarian delegation in Belgrade.
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