«Iron Lady» Katinka Hosszu: "I can still get tougher"

MACHINE: Katinka Hosszu was dubbed "the machine" in Bergen following her hectic
schedule at the Alexander Dale Oen Memorial. (Photo: Kjell Eirik Irgens Henanger, BSF)

Katinka Hosszu dived in the water an astonishing total of 36 times during the Bergen Swim Festival - Alexander Dale Oen memorial.

She was entered in 15 events, made the final in all of them, and with the 50 meter dashes being arranged as skins the races really added up for the girl dubbed swimming's «Iron Lady». For the skins she only miscalculated in the first heat of the 50 meters butterfly, otherwise she made the final event for those too.

She wasn't taking it easy either setting a total of seven meet records along the way.

The Hungarian swim ace is well known for her toughness in terms of swimming a lot of races. She did the Swim Festival in Norway jetlagged the weekend after racing the Grand Prix-meets in Mesa, USA. There she swam nine events, and eight finals.

Her nickname seems to be well deserved, but she does deliver a warning to those who think shes pushing herself to the limit.

"I felt pretty good about being called the Iron Lady when I first heard it", admits Katinka Hosszu in the interview I did with her for Norwegian TV 2.

"But I feel like I still could be tougher. Sometimes I start to feel like I'm really tired and I don't really want to do it or push it any more. I have it in me to be tougher."

You can watch the full interview here.

If you want further proof that this girl is special, here's a treat:

Speed Endurance-writer Sander Englund Smørdal
interviews Katinka Hosszu for TV 2 following the meet.

She won best performance of the short course meet following her 2.07,47 in the 200 IM. That was her 30th(!) race of the weekend and just minutes after a 400 freestyle (which was one of the few events she controlled an easy victory in 4.22,19).

That is a world class time in any circumstances, and in Sentralbadet with a shallow end its just plain out impressive, even though her PB is in the 2.04s.


"To do a 2.07 right now, and after a few events, is pretty good", says the humble 23 year old.

The intensive racing schedule has a two-sided effect. In Bergen she walked away with a total price money payout of 37.500 Norwegian kroner (around 6.500$ or 4200£), in addition its a great workout.

"Its all together [price money and training], I guess. It's really good for training and I like doing it during season cause when I go to a big championship meet I feel it is really easy to just swim one event. Its definitely a good preparation for a bigger meet, and I like to do it a lot. I like to race, and its really fun to do it" says Hosszu.

Hosszu was not happy with the 2012-Olympics, changed coaches and moved back to Hungary.

So far that seems to be a successful move with great success on the World Cup Circuit and in the World Short Course Championships. The 23 year old is optimistic going into the final months of preparation, but will not set a specific target - in public.

"I don't really like to talk about my goals in public, but I definitely have goal times in my mind. What I want to reach and if I reach those times I will probably be on the podium" predicts Hosszu.

You can watch the full interview here.

Furthermore she discusses the Bergen Swim Festival, her relationship with Alexander Dale Oen and her general happiness with her own performance.

Swim stars promise to return to Bergen Swim Festival

Winners of the best performance awards at Bergen Swim Festival: Rikke Møller Pedersen (DEN), Daniel Gyurta (HUN), Katinka Hosszu (HUN), Cameron van der Burgh (RSA), Michael Jamieson (GBR), Jeanette Ottesen (DEN).
(Photo: Kjell Eirik Irgens Henanger, BSF)

The Bergen Swim Festival was particularly star studded this year, due to it being the Alexander Dale Oen memorial.

A short course meet in late april is not ideal, but the swim stars were unanimous: They want to come back to Bergen.

Whether or not they were influenced by the emphatic crowd in the old pool that facilitates the BSF is hard to say, but most of the stars expressed a desire to return the next time the competition is arranged - even if by then it will not be a memorial meet.

The meet, established in 2007, will make the highly anticipated transition into a long course meet during the next year or so, as the City of Bergen (approx. 250.000 inhabitants) gets its first long course pool.

"Its not ideal with a short course meet now, as it is long course season basically" said Katinka Hosszu who used the meet as an intense training session swimming all 15 events - prelims and finals.

"When they get the long course pool here, this will be an ideal preparation for the upcoming summer-championship," said frequent guest Cameron van der Burgh swimming his fourth Bergen Swim Festival.

Photo: Kjell Eirik Irgens Henanger

Alexander Dale Oen will probably be close to the action although the meet will no longer bear his name. Whispers about the pool bearing Norways first, and only, long course world champions name are getting stronger.

This year, as it normally is at BSF, the mens 100 meters breaststroke was the main attraction. Cameron van der Burgh won in a meet record of 57,82, ahead of Daniel Gyurta.

"It was a tough and emotional race for me, but its nice to get a chance to honor Alexander by racing guys like Daniel Gyurta and Michael Jamieson. Not so much competing with them, but racing together in Alex's spirit", said van der Burgh immideately after the race.

See Norwegian TV 2s interview with him directly after the final here.


One of the things that makes the meet attractive is the Festival's festive setting for the finals session. With the pool being brought to complete darkness a smoke, and light show is put on while an announcer presents the swimmers. At the same time the public goes mad. This is what attracts the swimmers.

"Stefan Nystrand once said to me that noone else makes meets like these ones" said international liaison Jan Allers.

He confirmed that most international competitors had signaled a desire to return to the meet.

"Its not often you get to feel like a boxer preparing for a swim. It makes it a bit more exciting", said van der Burgh.

The meet organizers have lofty ambitions for the meet as they enter into the brand new national arena.

"We want to put Bergen on the international swimming map. In the long term we want it to be the biggest swim meet in Europe" said head of the organizing comittee Gjert Dahl.

A total of 19 meet records were set during the three days of competition. In addition Estonian backstroker Ralf Tribuntsov set three national records. One in the 50 backstroke (24,33) and two on the double distance (52,33 and 51,97).

Katinka Hosszu kicks off Bergen Swim Festival with two meet records

 Katinka Hosszu at Bergen Swim Festival. Photo: Kjell Erik Irgens Henanger

Katinka Hosszu impressed the audience setting two meet records during day one of the Bergen Swim Festival - Alexander Dale Oen memorial in Bergen, Norway. The competition is being swum in short course metres.

Despite it being prelims, and the fact she led both events by a country mile, the Hungarian swim princess went at it with all guns blazing setting a meet record in the 100 meters breaststroke (1:08.98) and the 200 meter freestyle (1:55.35).

She also qualified first for the 50 meters freestyle and the 100 meters backstroke finals, while she was second in the sprint butterfly behind Jeanette Ottesen. Hosszu is going to swim all 15 events this meet, and you would forgive her if she did not go all-out in all races.

Undoubtedly the danish breaststroke ace Rikke Møller Pedersen will give Hosszu more of a fight in the breaststroke final tomorrow. Pedersen's 1:10 Friday effort did not look too hard on her.....

Alexander Dale Oen Memorial.
Photo: Kjell Erik Irgens Henanger

In other races the favourites all qualified for the mens 100 meters breaststroke-event which will be the highlight of the meet in terms of quality across the field. Martti Ajland (EST) with the best time in the first session 1.00,77, narrowly edging Cameron van der Burgh. Also in that field: Daniel Gyurta, Michael Jamieson and Andrew Willis.

"I think I can do a 57 in the final", says van der Burgh who left the South-African Championships to participate in the memorial meet.

The best Norwegian finished tenth in the prelims, an event in which Norway is suffering in after losing Alexander Dale Oen, and Aleksander Hetland going into retirement.

The meet features some swimmers, like Hosszu and the breaststrokers, which really shows Norwegian swimmers where the international level is. It's quite a stretch for some.

See all results and livetiming at livetiming.no.

The meet continues at 8 AM GMT Saturday with finals commencing at 4 PM GMT.

Several media reports leading up to the meet has been focusing on the swim stars, and the breaststrokers in particular, and their relationships with Alexander Dale Oen.

TV 2 made a story from when Cameron van der Burgh visited Dale Oens grave. 

They also made a clip from when van der Burgh, Daniel Gyurta and Michael Jamieson visited their studio.

Olympic breaststroke champions to Norway in memory of Alexander Dale Oen

Daniel Gyurta and Cameron van der Burgh have both signaled to the organizers of Bergen Swim Festival that they intend to travel to Norway's second largest city in order to compete at the event held in mid-April.

The Bergen Swim Festival, BSF for short, is an annual event held at old Sentralbadet - a 25 meter pool opened in 1960. The meet, which had its first edition in 2007, has gathered quite a reputation in most Scandinavian countries, due to its nice prize money and also it's modern outlook. It's meant to have a more party-like feel to it, than most swim meets, normally.

Last year the meet was planned for the 4th-6th of May, just a few days after the death of Alexander Dale Oen. It got cancelled, but this year it is back on the schedule with the full name Bergen Swim Festival - Alexander Dale Oen Memorial.

The meet has attracted Nordic Swim stars as Jeanette Ottesen and Stefan Nystrand in the past, in addition to international swimmers like Oleg Lisogor, Cameron van der Burgh and Aschwin Wildeboer.

This year van der Burgh returns to the city where he once trained with his friend Alexander Dale Oen. Where he got hammered in training by Alexander Dale Oen. After his Olympic Gold he dedicated the medal to the Norwegian.

 This year he is joined by Daniel Gyurta, the 200-meter champion from London who said that he wanted to present Dale Oens family with a replica of his Olympic Gold Medal, saying the Norwegian deserved it.

According to the largest newspaper in the country, VG, Dale Oens family will be presented with the replica at "Idrettsgallaen" (Norwegian Sport Awards) on the 12th of January. Some part of the ceremony will serve as a remembrance for the swimming ace.

Now they both are coming to Bergen in memory and honour of the Shanghai World Champion.

The organizers make no attempt in hiding that the factor of Norway's greatest ever swimmer has a lot of bearing in the decisions of the swim stars to swim in Bergen.

– Of course, Alexanders personality and their connection to him is what matters the most when they decide to come to Norway, says BSFs international liaison Jan Allers to Norwegian TV 2.

They are however joined by a team of strong Danes. All of the locally based danish swimmers will make the trip to Norway, including three of the four World Champions from the 4x100 medley relay in Istanbul. The Danes have been regular visitors to the meet, although awkwardly placed for a short course-meet.

The organizers are hoping this years meet will set a standard for the meet to be at for the forthcoming years, where they will make the transition into a 50 meter pool.

– In the long term we want Bergen Swim Festival to be a big international swim meet, but the conditions will improve once we have the new pool ready, says leader of the organizing committee Gjert Dahl.

Next year the new national center for Swimming and Diving (pictured) will be finished in Bergen, with a state of the art 50 meter pool as the main focal point. The city of 250.000 people have no 50 meter pool as of yet, and strong forces are advocating for it to be named after the deceased Dale Oen. The organizers of BSF hope to have it operating for the 2014 edition of the meet.

This year however the main attraction will be, as it always has been, the 100 meter breaststroke for men. Alexander Dale Oen vs. Cameron van der Burgh vs. Oleg Lisogor were thrillers in the past. For this edition it will be a lot more subdued and undoubtedly a strange feeling for those involved, but still with high quality swimmers in the pool.

– It will be the roughest, hardest and most emotional race of the whole meet. We will try to make a frame around it worthy of the occasion, says Dahl.

If you want to read more about Bergen Swim Festival - Alexander Dale Oen Memorial, you can visit their homepage: http://www.bsf.no/en

Kosuke Kitajima Races To A 58.90 100m Breast (With Race Video)

Kosuke Kitajima is a rock star, breaking his own Asian record by 0.01, which just so happened to be set in the 2008 Olympic final. The time is the 5th fastest of all-time and he becomes just the second man under 59 seconds in a textile suit.

Ryo Tateishi, 2nd in 59.60, moved to 2nd in the 2012 world rankings.

Kitajima has now put himself within range of Norway's Alexander Dale Oen and his time of 58.71 set in Shanghai last year and keeps alive the chance to become the first male swimmer to win the same event in three consecutive Olympics.

Dale Oen set his time off a scorching first 50m split of 27.20, compared to Kitajima's still rapid 27.69, but it's worth noting that the Japanese star brought the race home significantly faster, 31.21 to 31.51. An Olympic final showdown between the two is set to be one of the highlights of the London Olympics.

(Thanks to Swimmer's Daily for the video find and 真之介 山田 for the video itself)

Top 51 Swimmers of 2011 - 10 to 1

Top 51 Swimmer of 2011 - 51 to 42
Top 51 Swimmer of 2011 - 41 to 32
Top 51 Swimmer of 2011 - 31 to 22
Top 51 Swimmer of 2011 - 21 to 11

The wait is over, here are the Top 10 Swimmers of 2011

10. Rebecca Adlington – 2011 Highlight – Victory in the 800m Free in Shanghai in a time of 8:17.51.

Winning another global title in the 800m Free was a great way for Adlington to regain her self-belief going into 2012, and she did it in style. After tracking Lotte Friis for the entire race, she put on the burners in the last 50m with a split of 28.91. She also made a step forward in the 400m with a time of 4:02.84 at British Nationals. While she wasn’t able to reproduce that time in the 400 final, she still swam well enough to win the silver medal. Adlington still needs to find a second to get down to Pellegrini’s winning time from Shanghai in the 400 Free, but all signs are pointing in the right direction ahead of a home Olympics.

9. Dana Vollmer – 2011 Highlight – New textile best time in the 100m Fly semi in Shanghai (56.47)

Vollmer's 56.47 was one of swimming's most unexpected performances of 2011. It was not that she was unfancied to win the 100m Fly, but to swim the 5th fastest time ever and give a seemingly untouchable world record a scare certainly did come as a shock. Vollmer dropped a clue back in April when she swam 57.5 untapered. The American also had a great year as part of a dominant USA 4 x 100 Medley team that shook the LC world record and broke the record SC. She also had a strong anchor leg in the 4 x 100 Free relay and would have won gold for the USA, had she not come up against Femke Heemskerk on top form.

8. Federica Pellegrini – 2011 Highlight – Utter dominance in the second half of the women’s 400m Free final (4:01.97)

In the Shanghai 400m Free final, Pellegrini swam a tactically perfect race. By keeping pace with the field until 200m (turned 5th in 2:02.30) and then unleashing an incredible 1:59.67 last 200m split she nullified all her opponents weapons and played to all of her strengths. The performance was so good, that if she swims the exact same race this summer you couldn't see anyone getting past her. She then backed up her 400 win with a victory in the 200m Free with another tactical masterclass. This time she didn't panic when Femke Heemskerk went out in world record pace, instead she put in her burst between 100m and 150m. The Italian is going to have company in the form of Missy Franklin in the 200m Free and may struggle to win the double in London, but 2011 was a masterclass in middle distance Freestyle from Pellegrini.

Thoughts from the European Swimming Championships - Day Two

- I hereby crown Camille Lacourt with the prestigous Speed Endurance Swim of 2010... So Far award. (It probably ranks right up alongside breaking the European Record.)

The much sought after award had been held by Rebecca Soni's 2:21.41 200m Breaststroke from the Barcelona Mare Nostrum event. It was then snatched away last week by Ryan Lochte's stunning 1:54.86 victory over Michael Phelps in the 200m IM at US Nationals.

(Lochte must be fuming right now to only hold the title for less than a week, but the truth is that Lacourt's swim tonight eclipsed both Soni and Lochte.)

52.11.... in textile jammers... is out. of. this. world. In my eyes it has to be considered an even better swim than Aaron Peirsol's techsuit legs aided 51.94 from last year's US Nationals, which is the only swim faster than Lacourt's effort from tonight.

Lacourt is a giant of a man but combines his size and strength with a faultless, increbily smooth technique. If you missed the race, check it out below (updated video with the passionate French commentators)



I honestly believed that Liam Tancock's 52.85 had a chance of holding up until the end of the year as the world's fastest time. Guess I got that one wrong.

Lacourt adds a new element to future 4 x 100m Medley races at both European and World level. The French team now looks like Lacourt on Back, Hugues Duboscq on Breast, Clement Lefert or Fred Bousquet on Fly and Alain Bernard/Fabien Gilot on Freestyle. The only weak link on that team is the fly and should either Lefert/Bousquet/A.N. Other get down to 50/51 seconds on the 100m Fly, the French team would become a real danger to the Americans.

Chapeau Camille Lacourt!

- Alexander Dale Oen was only slightly behind when it came to the most impressive swim on day two. Dale Oen's 59.20 final winning time improved on his 59.29 from yesterday's semis and moves him to within 0.07 of Brendan Hansen's textile best time. Dale Oen went out quickly again splitting in 27.69 (0.03 seconds slower than last night) and looked strong throughout the race.

It will be fascinating to see how Brenton Rickard, Kosuke Kitajima, Mike Alexandrov and Ryo Tateishi respond at Pan Pacs in just a few days time. I'm not sure I can see them beating Dale Oen's time.

(You can also read Swimnews' take on the race which starts with the line, 'Alex Dale Oen (NOR) hated the shiny suits and couldn't wait for them to be gone'... seriously, enough already)

- Lizzie Simmonds and Gemma Spofforth took an extremely satisfying, if a little predictable, British 1-2 in the 200m Backstroke.

Simmonds (2:07.04) went out hard for the race and hung on at the end. Spofforth (2:08.25) had a much more evenly paced race.

The time is impressive for Simmonds although not as fast as she has been earlier this year. What I want to highlight are her starts and turns which were a league apart from the rest of the field tonight.

Starts, turns and underwaters have been a staple of US success for years. No-one does them better. However, Simmonds looks like the first British swimmer in this generation to have caught up with the very best America (and the world) has to offer. Possibly the only backstroker right now that can come close to her underwater is Natalie Coughlin.

- Quick prediction for tomorrow's 200m Free final. 1. Paul Biedermann. 2. Danila Izotov. 3. Sebastian Verschuren in a very close race. I think Verschuren has something special to give tomorrow and I hope he blasts the first 100m. Biedermann will need to not play games and get out in a 51 high if he wants to have a shot at going 1:44 which I think he can. Definitely the race of tomorrow night on paper.

- Finally... To all future race organisers in Europe. Please, please stop playing Right Said Fred - Stand Up after EVERY medal ceremony. It leads me to my next question... What is the ideal song to be played after medal ceremonies? Answers in the comment section please. Let's come up with a solution together.