SWIMMING: Hungary’s Milak erases Phelps’s world record, while Pellegrini defeats Father Time in FINA Worlds

Hungary's Kristof Milak on the way to World Championships victory (and a world record) in the men's 200 m Butterfly.

There was a time warp at the FINA World Championships in Gwangju (KOR) on Wednesday, with the calendar spinning back to 2009 when Michael Phelps and Federica Pellegrini were winning World Championships gold medals in the era of the plastic suit.

But this was, actually, 2019, and a Phelps’ world record from the Worlds in Rome was finally broken by Hungary’s 19-year-old Kristof Milak, and Pellegrini – amazingly – won another gold ten years later!

Milak actually had to come from well behind to win the 200 m Butterfly, as South Africa’s defending champion Chad le Clos sprinted from the start and had the lead after 100 m, .03 under Phelps’s world-record pace from 2009. But Milak, who was easily the fastest qualifier in the semifinals (1:52.96) charged home with a 28.69 third lap – well ahead of Phelps’s pace – and closed in 29.16 to shatter the world record of 1:51.51 with his own 1:50.73. Japan’s Daiya Seto was a distant second at 1:53.86, and le Clos held on for third in 1:54.15.

That stole the headlines from Pellegrini, now 30, who led off the program with her fourth World Championships gold medal in the 200 m Freestyle. She had upset Katie Ledecky in the 2017 Worlds, but had to contend with the new star of the moment in Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, winner of the 400 m Free over Ledecky. But Pellegrini started slow – seventh after the first lap – and ramped up slowly, moving to fourth after 100 m and second behind Titmus at 150 m. But the Italian had the most speed coming home, and was the only one to swim under 29 seconds for the final lap, coming from 0.17 down to pass Titmus and win going away in 1:54.22, the no. 6 performance in history and Pellegrini’s fastest since 2009. Titmus was second in 1:54.66 and Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom was relegated to third in 1:54.78. The latter’s effort required medical attention and oxygen on the pool deck after the race.

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Fast forward to 2019 and we have the hokey mixed-gender relays, with the 4×100 m Medley closing the program. The U.S. was favored, but no one really knows how these events work out. Nevertheless, with a line-up of four Olympic gold medalists in Ryan Murphy (Back), Lilly King (Breast), Caeleb Dressel (Fly) and Simone Manuel (Free), the only question was whether Australia’s Cate Campbell would be close enough to overhaul Manuel on the anchor.

She was.

Murphy touched second and King kept the U.S. competitive, touching fifth, with Dressel flying through the pool in 49.33 to give Manuel a lead of 1.25 seconds over Campbell. The Australian moved up on Manuel on the first lap, then sprinted hard to touch first by 0.02 in 3:39.08 to 3:39.10 for the U.S. Campbell’s leg was timed in 51.10 to 52.37 for Manuel.

That’s a signal to watch for what Campbell might do in the 100 m Free, and ends Dressel’s shot at eight golds in this World Championships.

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Wednesday was a good night for Italy, as Gregorio Paltrinieri took control on the fifth lap and swam away from everyone to win the 800 m Freestyle in 7:39.27, a European Record and the sixth-fastest time in history. He adds the 800 m win to his 2017 victory in the 1,500 m and cements his status as the finest pool distance swimmer in the world today.

Britain’s Adam Peaty had no trouble defending his 2017 title in the 50 m Breaststroke, winning in 26.06; only he has swum faster, ever. It’s his third straight world title in the event and his sixth career individual Worlds golds.

In the evening semifinals, Dressel confirmed his favorite’s status in the 100 m Free, posting the best mark of 47.35, and American Kathleen Baker led all qualifiers in the 50 m Back (27.62). Hali Flickinger and Katie Drabot of the U.S. were the fastest qualifiers in the 200 m Fly in 2:06.25 and 2:06..59.

No shenanigans on the awards podium on Wednesday, so the focus was all on the swimming. Summaries so far:

FINA World Aquatics Championships
Gwangju (KOR) ~ 12-28 July 2019
(Full results here)

SWIMMING

Men

200 m Freestyle: 1. Yang Sun (CHN), 1:44.93; 2. Katsuhiro Matsumoto (JPN), 1:45.22; 3. tie, Martin Malyutin (RUS) and Duncan Scott (GBR), 1:45.63; 5. Filippo Megli (ITA), 1:45.67; 6. Clyde Lewis (AUS), 1:45.78; 7. Dominik Kozma (HUN), 1:45.90; disqualified – Danas Rapsys (LTU).

400 m Freestyle: 1. Sun (CHN), 3:42.44; 2. Mack Horton (AUS), 3:43.17; 3. Gabriele Detti (ITA), 3:43.23; 4. Rapsys (LTU), 3:43.50; 5. Marco de Tullio (ITA), 3:44.86; 6. Xinjie Ji (CHN), 3:45.64; 8. Zane Grothe (USA), 3:45.78.

800 m Freestyle: 1. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 7:39.27; 2. Henrik Christiansen (DEN), 7:41.28; 3. David Aubry (FRA), 7:42.08; 4. Jack McLoughlin (AUS), 7:42.64; 5. Gabriele Detti (ITA), 7:43.89; 6. Sun (CHN), 7:45.01; 7. Sergii Frolov (RUS), 7:47.32; 8. Mykhallo Romanchuk (UKR), 7:49.32.

4×100 m Freestyle: 1. United States (Caeleb Dressel, Blake Pieroni, Zach Apple, Nathan Adrian), 3:09.06; 2. Russia (Grinev, Morozov, Kolesnikov, Rylov), 3:09.97; 3. Australia (McEvoy, Lewis, Graham, Chalmers), 3:11.22; 4. Italy, 3:11.39; 5. Great Britain, 3:11.81; 6. Brazil, 3:11.99; 7. Hungary, 3:12.85; 8. France, 3:13.34.

100 m Backstoke: 1. Jiayu Xu (CHN), 52.43; 2. Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 52.67; 3. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 52.77; 4. Ryan Murphy (USA), 52.78; 5. Matt Grevers (USA), 52.82; 6. Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 53.22; 7. Guilherme Guido (BRA), 53.26; 8. Robert Glinta (ROU), 54.22.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Adam Peaty (GBR), 26.06; 2. Felipe Lima (BRA), 26.66; 3. Joao Gomes Jr. (BRA), 26.69; 4. Kirill Prigoda (RUS), 26.72; 5. Ilya Shymanovich (BLR), 26.85; 6. Zibei Yan (CHN), 26.86; 7. Michael Andrew (USA), 26.93; disqualified – Fabio Scozzoli (ITA).

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Peaty (GBR), 57.14; 2. James Wilby (GBR), 58.46; 3. Zibei Yan (CHN), 58.63; 4. Yashuhiro Koseki (JPN), 58.93; 5. Prigoda (RUS), 59.09; 6. Andrew Wilson (USA), 59.11; 7. Dmitriy Balandin (KAZ), 59.14; 8. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 59.19. (In semifinals: Peaty, 56.88, World Record; old, 57.10, Peaty, 2018).

100 m Butterfly: 1. Caeleb Dressel (USA), 22.35 (American Record; old, 22.57, Dressel, in semifinals); 2. Oleg Kostin (RUS), 22.70; 3. Nicholas Santos (BRA), 22.79; 4. Michael Andrew (USA), 22.80; 5. Szebasztian Szabo (HUN), 22.90; 6. Andrii Govorov (UKR), 22.91; 7. Benjamin Proud (GBR), 23.01; 8. Andrey Zhilkin (RUS), 23.11.

200 m Butterfly: 1. Kristof Milak (HUN), 1:50.73 (World Record; old, 1:51.51, Michael Phelps (USA), 2009); 2. Daiya Seto (JPN), 1:53.86; 3. Chad le Clos (RSA), 1:54.15; 4. Federico Burdisso (ITA), 1:54.39; 5. Denys Kesyl (UKR), 1:54.79; 6. Zach Hartung (USA), 1:55.69; 7. Leonardo de Deus (FRA), 1:55.96; 8. Tamas Kenderesi (HUN), 1:57.10.

Women

200 m Freestyle: 1. Federica Pellegrini (ITA), 1:54.22; 2. Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:54.66; 3. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 1:54.78; 4. Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 1:54.98; 5. Junxuan Yang (CHN), 1:55.43 (World Junior Record); 6. Penny Oleksiak (CAN), 1:56.59; 7. Charlotte Bonnet (FRA), 1:56.95; 8. Rio Shirai (JPN), 1:57.14.

400 m Freestyle: 1. Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 3:58.76; 2. Katie Ledecky (USA), 3:59.97; 3. Leah Smith (USA), 4:01.29; 4. Ajna Kesely (HUN), 4:01.31; 5. Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 4:03.67; 6. Boglarka Kapas (HUN), 4:05.36; 7. Anna Egorova (RUS), 4:06.16; 8. Veronika Andrusenko (RUS), 4:08.60.

1,500 m Freestyle: 1. Simona Quadarella (ITA), 15:40.89; 2. Sarah Kohler (GER), 15:48.83; 3. Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 15:51.00; 4. Ashley Twichell (USA), 15:54.19; 5. Maddy Gough (AUS), 15:59.40; 6. Ajna Kesely (HUN), 16:01.35; 7. Kiah Melverton (AUS), 16:01.38; 8. Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 16:02.10.

4×100 m Freestyle: 1. Australia (Bronte Campbell, Throssell, McKeon, Cate Campbell), 3:30.21; 2. United States (Mallory Comerford, Abbey Weitzeil, Kelsi Dahlia, Simone Manuel), 3:31.02 (American Record; old, 3:31.72, National Team, 2017); 3. Canada (Sanchez, Ruck, Oleksiak, MacNeil), 3:31.78; 4. Netherlands, 3:35.32; 5. China, 3:35.83; 6. Sweden, 3:36.33; 7. Japan, 3:36.79; 8. Germany, 3:39.07.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Kylie Masse (CAN), 58.60; 2. Minna Atherton (AUS), 58.85; 3. Olivia Smoliga (USA), 58.91; 4. Taylor Ruck (CAN), 58.96; 5. Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 59.10; 6. tie, Katheen Baker (USA) and Natsumi Sakai (JPN), 59.56; 8. Daria Vaskina (RUS), 59.74.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Lilly King (USA), 1:04.93; 2. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 1:05.49; 3. Martina Carraro (ITA), 1:06.36; 4. Reona Aoki (JPN), 1:06.40; 5. Jingyao Yu (CHN), 1:06.56; 6. Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA), 1:06.60; 7. Molly Renshaw (GBR), 1:06.96; 8. Arianna Castiglioni (ITA), 1:07.06.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Margaret MacNeil (CAN), 55.83; 2. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 56.22; 3. Emma McKeon (AUS), 56.61; 4. Elena di Liddo (ITA), 57.07; 5. Brianna Throssell (AUS), 57.09; 6. Kelsi Dahlia (USA), 57.11; 7. Louise Hansson (SWE), 57.16; 8. Marie Wattel (FRA), 57.29.

200 m Individual Medley: 1. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2:07.53; 2. Shiwen Ye (CHN), 2:08.60; 3. Sydney Pickrem (CAN), 2:08.70; 4. Melanie Margalis (USA), 2:08.91; 5. Rika Omoto (JPN), 2:09.32; 6. Seoyeong Kim (KOR), 2:10.12; 7. Siobhan O’Connor (GBR), 2:10.43; disqualified – Yui Ohashi (JPN).

Mixed

4×100 m Medley: 1. Australia (Larkin, Wilson, McKeon, Cate Campbell), 3:39.08; 2. United States (Ryan Murphy, Lilly King, Caeleb Dressel, Simone Manuel), 3:39.10; 3. Great Britain (Davies, Peaty, Guy, Anderson), 3:40.68; 4. Russia, 3:40.78; 5. Canada, 3:43.06; 6. Italy, 3:43.27; 7. Germany, 3:45.07; disqualified – Netherlands.