Hungary's Kristof Milak celebrates taking gold in the men's 100 meters butterfly finals during the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships at Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary on June 24, 2022. Photo: AFP

Hungary's Kristof Milak won the men's 100-meter butterfly in 50.33 seconds at the European Championships in Rome on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Olympic silver medalist pipped Switzerland's Noe Ponti in second place with Poland's Jakub Majerski in third.

Milak was in line to beat his own continental record of 49.68 seconds at the halfway stage before slowing down in the final 50-meter in the open-air pool at the Foro Italico complex.

"I wanted to win this, but with a better time. I always want to go under 50 seconds which I was unable to do today," Milak said. 

Elsewhere, France's Analia Pigree claimed the women's 50-meter backstroke in 27.27 seconds, almost 0.30 second slower than the world record with Italy's Silvia Scalia in second and the Netherlands' Maaike de Waard taking bronze.

"I'm totally happy, I'm in shock," 21-year-old Pigree said.

"It's my first long-course championships and my first medal, and this gives me strong motivation to carry on," she added.

Britain's James Wilby claimed gold in the men's 200-meter breaststroke after starting in lane number eight in 2 minutes 08.96 seconds with Finland's Matti Mattson in second and home favorite Luca Pizzini in third.

Wilby, 28, also raced in the world championships earlier in 2022's summer and in the Commonwealth Games with the competitions having been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It was a real wrestle in that last 25 but I executed my process just how I wanted to," Wilby said.

"It's extremely complicated. We are going through things that we have never gone through before, three internationals in one year is a hell of an ask," he added.

In the women's 200-meter freestyle, the Netherlands' Marrit Steenbergen swam a personal best of 1 minute 56.36 to win with Wilby's compatriot and 2019 champion Freya Anderson taking silver and Germany's Isbael Marie Gose claiming bronze.

In the final race of the day in the Italian summer heat, hosts dominated the men's 4x100-meter freestyle final in a time of 3 minutes 10.50.

Milak's Hungary were almost two seconds slower in second with Britain in third as France were disqualified for an illegal handover.

Earlier, Romanian David Popovici claimed a place in the men's 200-meter freestyle final after breaking the world record in the 100 meters on Saturday, beating Milak who was second.

Popovici, 17, finished in 1min 44.91 and will compete for another gold in Monday's late session but Milak will be missing from the race after having to settle for fourth place in his heat.

AFP