Kristof Milak crushes world record at home swim wolds; Bobby ‘Finkes’ again

BUDAPEST — In 2019, Kristof Milak broke Michael Phelps‘ world record at age 19. In 2021, he won Olympic gold. But the highlight of his swimming career thus far happened on Tuesday night at the world championships in his home pool.

The Hungarian broke his own world record — by a significant 39 hundredths of a second — winning the 200m butterfly by a giant 3.03 seconds, or more than two body lengths.

Milak clocked 1:50.34. Phelps, the second-fastest flier in history, had a best time of 1:51.51, which stood as the world record for 10 years. But now Milak owns the five best times in history.

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“This is my home, my pool, I train here, I race here, lane four belongs to me, I really wanted to show something big for these fantastic people,” Milak said. “The Olympic gold means a lot, but winning here, with a new world record, in front of 4,000 people – that eclipses everything.”

Milak splashed and pointed at the scoreboard upon his finish, but the effort clearly took its toll. He loved everything about the raucous minutes in the Duna Arena — until he climbed out of the pool.

“I don’t feel my legs,” said Milak, who sat on the deck before taking any steps, absorbing the atmosphere. Moments later, he sat down again while doing an arena interview. Then he lay on his back on the mixed zone carpet after doing a Hungarian TV interview.

“I also asked the Hungarian announcer [before the race] to push the crowd over the last 60 meters,” he said. “As I’ve heard from the stands, he kept his promise.”

Milak was a backstroker until age 14, but even when he devoted to the butterfly, he focused on the 100m because he lacked strength.

At these worlds, Milak’s showdown with Caeleb Dressel in the