(Swimming news) Hungarian swimmer Kristóf Milák broke his own 200m butterfly record at the World Aquatics Championship in Budapest. The 22 year old’s time of one minute 50.34 seconds was 0.39 seconds faster than the record he set in July 2019. France's Leon Marchand finished second, three seconds behind Milák while Tomoru Honda of Japan took third. Speaking afterwards, Milák said “This is my home, the pool belongs to me, lane four belongs to me. I have 4,000 amazing people here to watch me and I couldn't let them down." 

In other results, Freya Anderson from Great Britain was fastest into the 200m freestyle final but finished fourth while China's Yang Junxuan secured the gold medal. Bobby Finke from the USA won the men's 800m freestyle ahead of Germany's Florian Wellbrock and Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk. Speaking after the event, Finke said “I knew I just had to just stick with them and stay with what I am good at, the finish. I knew the 50 length was going to hurt but it was worth it.” 

One of the most awaited aspects of today’s event is the meeting between American Olympic and world champion Caeleb Dressel and 17 year old Romanian prodigy David Popovici. Popovici won the 200m freestyle final on Monday after being more than a second ahead while Dressel withdrew from the 100m freestyle semi-finals with a medical issue. A statement issued by the United States team on Dressel said “The team will determine his participation in the events later in the week.”

Also read: Ceccon smashes 100m backstroke world record at World Championships