Katinka Hosszú

Personal life

Katinka Hosszú was born in Pécs, Hungary, the daughter of Barbara Bakos and István Hosszú. Katinka was swim coached by her grandfather, László Bakos until the age of 13. Hosszú met her future husband Shane Tusup, when they were both freshmen at the University of Southern California. After being crushed under the pressure of expectations at the 2012 London Olympics, and not medalling, she asked her then boyfriend Tusup to become her coach, replacing her coach since her U.S.C. swim team days, Dave Salo. After the Olympics, at the Beijing World Cup swim meet, she competed in 8 events, medalling in 5 of them, leading to Chinese newspapers says she was made out of iron, leading to her nickname, The Iron Lady. Hosszú married Tusup in 2013.

Hosszú and husband Tusup opened their own swim club in Hungary, Iron Aquatics in September 2016.

In August 2016, Hosszú lost a defamation lawsuit against writer Casey Barrett, magazine Swimming World, and publisher Sports Publications International, Incorporated. She had filed the lawsuit in November 2015 after the magazine published an article on its website in May 2015 questioning whether Hosszú was using performance-enhancing substances, despite Hosszú never having been found to use such substances. The lawsuit was dismissed because the judge ruled the article to clearly be an opinion piece.

Swimming career

Hosszú is renowned throughout the swimming world for swimming many events well in a short space of time. Since 2012 she is coached by her husband, Shane Tusup, a former swimmer at University of Southern California, on a one-on-one basis. She was previously coached by Dave Salo.

2004 European Short Course Swimming Championships

She won her first medal at the 2004 European Short Course Swimming Championships, a bronze in the 400 m medley.

2009 World Championships

At the 2009 World Championships she won two bronze medals in 200 m medley and 200 m butterfly, before becoming World Champion in 400 m medley. She was elected Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year for her achievements.

2010 European Championships

At the 2010 European Championships held in her home country, she won a silver medal in 400 m medley and became European Champion in 200 m butterfly, 200 m medley and as a member of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay team.

2012 Summer Olympic Games

Competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics, she finished fourth in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:33.49, just outside of the medals. She also finished eighth in the 200-meter individual medley and missed the finals for the 200-meter butterfly.

After the Olympics, Hosszú decided to part with her coach Dave Salo, and since then she has been coached by her husband (then boyfriend) Shane Tusup, a former professional swimmer himself.

2013

In 2013, Hosszú set out to redeem herself after her medal-less performance at the 2012 Olympics. She attended numerous competitions and swam highly rigorous programs at each one, earning herself the nickname of the "Iron Lady". She earned three medals (two gold, one bronze) at the World Championships and a gold and two silvers at the European Championships. She also amassed a total of 24 golds and broke 6 world records during the World Cup series.

2013 World Championships

At the 2013 World Championships, she pulled out of the 100 m backstroke after qualifying second in the heats (preliminary races), to concentrate on the final of the 200 m individual medley which she subsequently won with a time of 2:07.92. She then touched third in the 200 m butterfly behind Liu Zige and Mireia Belmonte. She capped off her competition with a final gold in the 400 m individual medley, finishing in 4:30.41.

2013 World Cup Series

Throughout the 2013 World Cup series, she set world records in 100-meter IM, 200-meter IM, and 400-meter IM, breaking the 200-meter record twice and 100-meter record three times.

2014

In 2014, Hosszú broke the short course world records in the 100-meter and 200-meter individual backstroke events and in 100-, 200-, and 400-meter individual medleys.

2015 World Championships

At the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Katinka Hosszú again dealt with a monster programme, competing in the 200 m IM, 100 m backstroke, 200 m freestyle, 200 m butterfly, 100 m freestyle, 200 m backstroke and 400 m IM. She posted the top time in prelims of the 100 m backstroke, but elected to pull out of the semifinal to concentrate on the 200 m IM final, a decision which ultimately paid off; she broke the tech suited world record of Ariana Kukors from 2009 in a stunning swim of 2.06.12. Hosszú's time of 58.78 in the prelims of the 100 m backstroke would have earned her a bronze medal in the final, however the 200 m IM final was 30 minutes after the backstroke semis and swimming it might have cost her the world record in the IM. To go along with the 200 m IM performance, she won bronze in the 200 m backstroke, was 5th in the 200 m freestyle, and capped it off with a victory in the 400 m IM on the last day.

2015 European Short Course Championships

Hosszú won six gold medals at the 2015 European Short Course Championships, sweeping all three backstroke and three individual medley events. She broke world records in the 100- and 400-meter individual medleys.

2016 Summer Olympic Games

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Hosszú won the gold medal and broke the world record in the 400-meter individual medley, won the gold medal and broke the Olympic record in the 200-meter individual medley, and won a third gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke. She also won a silver in the 200-meter backstroke behind American Maya DiRado. With 3 gold medals and 1 silver, Hosszú won more medals in individual events than any other swimmer in the 2016 Summer Olympics.