«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.

Watch Eamon Sullivan on Masterchef Australia

With the start of the World Championships a tantalising three days away, its important to find things to fill the time before the swimming starts. Here is soon-to-be cafe owner (and Olympic silver medalist) Eamon Sullivan competing on yesterday's episode of Masterchef Australia. If James Magnussen is still suffering from suspected pneumonia, a few of Sullivan's Chocolate Delices should put him right...

Poll Results: Which Women's Event Are You Most Looking Forward to in Shanghai?

Photo Finish

100m Free - 59 votes (25.1%) - Nothing could split the traditional blue ribbon event (100m Free) and the 'All Star' newcomer (200m IM). Interestingly the 100 Free is the most anticipated race on both the men's and women's schedule.

200m IM - 59 votes (25.1%) - Stacked with star names from the swimming world's superpowers: Rice, Coutts, Kukors, Ye Shiwen, Belmonte, Miley, Hosszu, Coventry. In terms of glitz and glamour, this is the women's equivalent of the men's 200m Free.

Big Draws

400m Free - 25 votes (10.6%) - An intriguing race that was shaping up to be a head-to-head duel between Rebecca Adlington and Federica Pellegrini, before Camille Muffat, Chloe Sutton, Katie Hoff and Kylie Palmer all staked their claim for the title in the last year.

4 x 100 Free relay - 16 votes (6.8%) - I would imagine most of the votes cast for this race came from the Netherlands. The race between NED, USA, AUS and CHN should be closer than people think, but with two potential medalists in the 100 Free individual event, the Dutch women should have enough firepower to get the job done.

400m IM - 13 votes (5.5%) - Think of this as the 200m IM-lite. With the exception of Arianna Kukors and Alicia Coutts, the other contenders for the 200 IM go in this event.

100m Back - 12 votes (5.1%) - A good chance for a Chinese victory in this race with Zhao Jing, however, she will have to overcome a seriously talented field including Natalie Coughlin, Gemma Spofforth, Aya Terakawa and Anastasia Zueva. Watch out for Holland's Femke Heemskerk (1:00.03 this year, trains with Camille Lacourt) for an upset. The one name missing is Missy Franklin, who only qualified for the 200m Back.

200m Breast - 11 votes (4.7%) - One for the world record hunters. There isn't much debate on who the favourite for this event is, the big question is how close Rebecca Soni can get to Annamay Pierse's world record.

Breaking News: Yannick Agnel WILL Swim the 400m Free in Shanghai

According to the French Swimming Federation's official press dossier, their hottest new star, Yannick Agnel WILL be competing in the 400m Free in Shanghai. 

His participation was in doubt after he came down with a lung infection back in May, but his performance at the Paris Open (3:45.31) showed that he was in the kind of form necessary to compete for a spot on the podium.

Agnel will also be competing in the 4 x 100 Freestyle relay, which was the other event in doubt on the Frenchman's schedule, as well as the 200 Free and 4 x 200 Free relay.

Other interesting notes from the dossier:

• Camille Muffat will have a busy schedule. She is down to swim the 100, 200, 400 & 800 Free as well as the 4 x 100 Medley relay and the 4 x 200 Free relay.

• Fred Bousquet will swim the Butterfly leg on the 4 x 100 Medley relay.

•  This one might test the limits of the term 'interesting', but here are the heights of the Men's French team: Agnel 2.01m, Lacourt 1.97m, Bernard 1.96m, Mallet 1.96m, Gilot 1.93m, Meynard 1.92m, Duboscq 1.91m, Stravius 1.90m, Bousquet 1.88m, Stasiulis 1.86m, Rouault 1.82m. An average of 1.92m (6 ft 3in) per swimmer.

UPDATE 20/7: Fred Bousquet will not swim in the 4 x 100 Free relay. Yannick Agnel is the only swimmer with a place in the final secure. The heats team will be led off by Alain Bernard who will be joined by William Meynard, Jeremy Stravius and Fabien Gilot. The fastest three men from the heats will make up the final team alongside Agnel.

Keri-Anne Payne Wins 10km Open Water in Shanghai Doing Backstroke

Such a gutsy move, swimming the 10km Open Water race backstroke. Just proves once again that when it comes to race tactics, Keri-anne Payne is playing chess, while the rest of the world plays checkers.


Congratulations to Keri-anne, winning back-to-back world titles. Hopefully this is the first, but not the last swimming gold for Britain in Shanghai.

PS. The photo above is just the turn at the buoy. She swam the rest of the race freestyle.

New Vote: Who Will Win The 50m Free Swim-Off At The Charlotte Ultra Swim?

Who Will Win The 50m Free Swim-Off At The Charlotte Ultra Swim?

After a dead heat in the 50m Free at US Nationals last year, Josh Schneider and Cullen Jones will swim-off on Thursday at the Charlotte Ultra Swim. At stake, a spot on the US World Championship team. For one night only, swimming morphs into a boxing contest. Two heavyweight's going head-to-head.

The Contenders 

Yannick Agnel To Miss the 400m Free at the World Championships

After being struck down by a lung infection, Yannick Agnel has been forced to change his event schedule at the World Championships. Despite being ranked 2nd in the world this year, the Frenchman will drop the 400m Free (and likely the 4 x 100 Free) from his programme. He still plans to race in the 200m Free and 4 x 200m Free.

Clearly a big loss for Agnel and the entire French team. He wasn't a lock for a medal, however China's Sun Yang, South Korea's Park Tae Hwan and Agnel were looking like the clear Top 3 for Shanghai. Agnel's withdrawal from the event opens the door for the likes of Ous Mellouli, Peter Vanderkaay, Ryan Napoleon and Paul Biedermann.

(If he is forced to pull out of the relay) His loss will also be felt on France's 4 x 100m Free relay. He added a much needed stability to the French team, which was highlighted by his final leg on the gold medal winning relay in Dubai. The demons that have so often haunted this French relay might just start creeping back in again...

Do the Russian women now have a 4 x 100 Medley Relay Team?

Russian women have it pretty tough when it comes to relays. While the Russian men are busy scaring the American and French freestylers, more often that not the Russian women's teams have been mere observers during recent major finals, whether they qualified for the Top 8 or not.

That might be about to change with the recent breakthrough of Veronika Popova into the upper echelons of women's freestyle sprinting. On Day Two of the Russian Champs, Popova, 20, raced to a new national record in the 100 Free with a time of 54.22. Tonight, Popova followed that swim up with a 53.82 relay split (as well as a 1:56.94, 200 Free earlier in the session). Irina Bespalova, Popova's club teammate, won the 100 Fly in a time of 58.99.

Breaking News: Sun Yang - 1500 Free - 14:42.52

According to a Chinese report just out, at Chinese Nationals Sun Yang rocketed to the top of the 2011 world rankings with his time of 14:42.52 in the 1500 Free.

WATCH THE RACE HERE (Huge thanks to swimfan2 for the link. For more video from Chinese Nationals, click here )

Whilst a little off his best time of 14:35.43 from last year , it still ranks as the 13th fastest performance of all-time and cements his place at the top of the world in the event.

Hoping for a world record this week was probably wishful thinking after Sun Yang stated that he had focused more on speed for this meet, highlighted by his 1:44.99 200 Free and 3:41.48 400 Free efforts. The big question will be what he focuses on in Shanghai. He is a potential medalist in the 200 Free, the marginal favourite in the 400 Free and undisputed favourite in the 1500 Free.

PS. Many in the swimming world have accused China of being too secretive and use this fact to cast aspersions on Chinese swimmers and their success. On that point I should say that in the last hour I have watched more swimming from Chinese Nationals than I did for the entire British Nationals.

National Championship Bonanza

It is a frantic time in the world of swimming right now with several countries holding their World Championship Trials. Expect the world rankings to be turned on their head during the next week.

Australian Championships - 1st - 8th April

Results
Start Lists

Finals will be broadcast live on One HD


Spanish Championships - 31st March - 3rd April

Results
Start Lists

Live Video


Live TV by Ustream



Canadian World Trials - 30th March - 2nd April

Results
Live Video



Danish Open - 31st March - 3rd April


Results
Start Lists
Live Video


Swiss Championships - 31st March - 3rd April


Results

New Vote: Who Will Win The 400m Freestyle at this Year's World Championships?

If the 200m Freestyle is the most stacked event with storylines on the men's side, for the women it is surely the 400m Freestyle.

The event includes the most popular swimmers, male or female, of two major European nations, Rebecca Adlington and Federica Pellegrini. Two high-profile American women with two contrasting backgrounds. A young Chinese contingent with no apparent ceiling to their talent. France's major medal hopes on the women's side and a couple of Australian's putting together some impressive major competition results.

The Main Contenders

Rebecca Adlington - Double Olympic Champion from Beijing. European and Commonwealth Champion last year. Has just swam the event's fastest time since the suit laws were changed.

Federica Pellegrini - Only woman ever to swim under 4:00 long course and reigning World Champion. Had consistency issues last year and is now training with Laure Manaudou's former coach.

Chloe Sutton - The former open water swimmer has transitioned seamlessly to the pool. Has improved many technical aspects. Can keep pace with anyone else in the world between the flags.

Katie Hoff - Last year's World Short-Course Champion has returned to her best form after a post-Beijing dip. The best start and turns of anyone in the event.

Camille Muffat - Multi-talented 21-year old, has been improving steadily over the last few years. Looks set for a break-out in 2011.

Coralie Balmy - 8th on the all-time list. Underperformed at European's last year and has subsequently changed coaches. No shortage of talent.

Li Xuanxu - Just 17 years old. 6th at the World SC Championships which was also her LC world ranking last year. Watch out for the Chinese at a home World Championships.

Yiwen Shao - 16 year-old dominated last year's Asian Games winning by over 3 seconds in her first international competition. Watch out for the Chinese at a home World Championships.

Bronte Barratt - 8th in the world last year, but just 0.1 seconds shy of 4th. Has been on the international scene for some time, but is still just 22 years old.

Kylie Palmer - Strong performances in the major competition's last year. Silver medalist behind Hoff in Dubai. Beat the likes of Pellegrini, Sutton, Balmy and Li Xuanxu. Also won silver at the Commonwealth Games behind Adlington.

Other - Plenty of other hopefuls in this event, including the likes of Jaz Carlin, Ophelie-Cyrielle Etiene, Blair Evans, Lotte Friis, Mireia Belmonte (although the event clashes with 200m IM), Erika Villaecija plus any unknown talents poised for a breakthrough (looking at you China).

Cast your vote now. If clicking vote isn't enough, make the case for your pick in the comment section below.