Hubert Kos Beats Kristof Milak in 100 Butterfly Showdown at Hungarian Championships
The first event of the finals session at the Hungarian Championships on Saturday was the 200-meter backstroke, but the discipline did not feature reigning Olympic champion Hubert Kos. The decision by Kos to bypass his premier event suggested he had big plans for the 100 butterfly, slated for later in the schedule, and the University of Texas star certainly came through in style.
Dueling with Olympic champion Kristof Milak, Kos claimed victory in the 100 fly behind a time of 50.55. The performance was .12 quicker than the 50.67 produced by Milak, who grabbed gold last summer at the Paris Games. Kos went out in 23.68, building a lead over Milak, who split 24.15. While Milak was closing down the stretch, Kos maintained his advantage and was almost a half-second faster than the 50.96 he clocked for silver to Milak at last year’s European Championships.
It has been quite a few weeks for Kos, who in March helped the University of Texas capture the NCAA team championship. During the NCAA Champs, Kos won all three of his individual events, the 200 individual medley, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke. The backstroke events were won in NCAA-record time.
At the Hungrian Champs, Kos previously earned titles in the 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke, the 100 back claimed in an eye-opening effort of 52.24. He also won the 200 individual medley in an impressive 1:56.40. Put it all together and Kos, coached by Bob Bowman, looks on track for a big summer at the World Championships in Singapore.
In Kos’ absence, Benedek Kovacs won the men’s 200 backstroke in 1:56.77, a time that will send Kovacs to the World Championships. Meanwhile, Katalin Burian secured a narrow victory in the women’s 200 backstroke, as her 2:10.55 was just ahead of the 2:10.62 of Dora Molnar. Molnar had the lead over Burian at the 150, but Burian closed in 32.73 to pull out the comeback.
Three men broke the 8:00 barrier in the 800 freestyle, headed by Kristof Rasovszky. Coming off a national record in the 400 freestyle, Rasovszky touched the wall in 7:47.04 to beat David Betlehem (7:48.02) by nearly a second. They were followed by Zalan Sarkany, who recorded a swim of 7:53.34.
Ajna Kesely prevailed in the women’s 800 freestyle in 8:33.94 and Valentin Bayer (27.42) and Henrietta Fangli (30.61) were the first-place finishers in the 50 breaststroke events. Fangli’s time set a Hungarian record. Panna Ugrai was quickest in the women’s 100 fly, going 58.47.
