Katinka Hosszú
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Katinka Hosszú (; born 3 May 1989) is a Hungarian former competitive
swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
specialized in individual medley events. She is a three-time Olympic champion and a nine-time long-course world champion. She is the owner of a Budapest-based swim school and swim club called Iron Swim Budapest, and a co-owner and was captain of
Team Iron Team Iron is a professional swimming team co-owned by Katinka Hosszú, and a founding member of the International Swimming League. The team is based in Budapest, Hungary, led by general manager Dorina Szekeres and head coach Jozsef Nagy. Durin ...
, founding member of the
International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) was an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...
. Hosszú held seven
world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...
in the course of her career, and was the first swimmer (male or female) to hold world records in all five individual medley events at the same time. She holds two-thirds of the Hungarian national records. Hosszu was named FINA Swimmer of the Year in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018, and won SwimSwam's Swammy Award for Female Swimmer of the Year in 2013. Hosszú competed at five
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
: 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. After a long tenure under head coach Shane Tusup, who was her husband, following their divorce Hosszú was coached by
Dave Salo David Clark Salo is a swimming coach based in Southern California, United States. He was the head coach of the men's and women's swimming team at University of Southern California, as well as USC's club team, Trojan Swim Club. Prior to his becoming ...
before moving onto Árpád Petrov. At the end of 2019 she parted ways with Petrov, and by the following year had hired József Nagy to be her coach. She was one of the most versatile swimmers in the world, and was nicknamed the "Iron Lady", which she has since turned into a fast growing international brand. In 2014 she became the first race-prize dollar millionaire (man or woman) in swimming history. In 2019,
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
magazine considered her to be the most valuable Hungarian athlete, having ranked in the first position for the previous five years.


Personal life

Katinka Hosszú was born in Pécs, Hungary, the daughter of Barbara Bakos and István Hosszú. She is the youngest of three (Gergely and Ádám). Katinka grew up in Baja and was coached in swimming by her grandfather, László Bakos until the age of 13. Hosszú met her future husband Shane Tusup in 2009, when they were both freshmen at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
. After being crushed under the pressure of expectations at the
2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
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 David Clark Salo is a swimming coach based in Southern California, United States. He was the head coach of the men's and women's swimming team at University of Southern California, as well as USC's club team, Trojan Swim Club. Prior to his becoming ...
. 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. In August 2016, Hosszú lost a defamation lawsuit against writer Casey Barrett, magazine ''
Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...
'', 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 substance Performance-enhancing substances (PESs), also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. Many substances, such as anabolic steroids, can be used to improve ath ...
s, 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. Hosszú and husband Tusup opened their own swim club in Hungary, ''Iron Aquatics'' in September 2016. On 16 February 2018 Hosszú filed for divorce from Tusup. On 25 May 2018 Hosszú's Facebook page was deleted by Tusup, who was the sole administrator of the page. However, on 6 June 2018 she regained access to her
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
page with the assistance of activist and women's rights defender
Matan Uziel Matan Uziel (; born 21 April 1985) is an Israeli former high-tech entrepreneur and documentary filmmaker. He is also the founder of the Real Women Real Stories channel on YouTube. Discovery of Elsagate videos (2017–present) November 2017 On ...
. In January 2022, Hosszú announced her engagement to her boyfriend since 2019, Máté Layber-Gelencsér.Race, Retta (26 January 2022)
"Hungarian Olympic Icon Katinka Hosszu Says 'Yes' to Máté Gelencsér"
''
SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012. History The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett ...
''. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
The two got married in August, 2022. Later in the year, a
biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...
entitled "Katinka", which portrays her life, was released in theaters.Szalay, Attila (10 May 2022)
"Hosszú Katinka robotnak érezte magát Shane Tusup mellett"
(in Hungarian). ''
Magyar Nemzet ''Magyar Nemzet'' ('', '') is a major Hungarian newspaper published in Hungary, and styled itself as "close to the current Hungarian government led by Viktor Orbán" as of 2019. History and profile ''Magyar Nemzet'', a moderate conservative d ...
''. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
In the summer of 2023 the birth of Hosszú's daughter, Kamília Layber-Gelencsér was announced via Instagram.


Swimming career

Hosszú was renowned throughout the swimming world for swimming many events well in a short space of time. During the third leg of the 2014 FINA/MASTBANK Swimming World Cup, organised in the Victoria Park Swimming Pool of Hong Kong, she got an unprecedented achievement winning 12 medals out of the 17 individual events for the two-day meet. 10 gold (200 m, 400 m and 800 m free, 50 m, 100 m and 200 m backstroke, 200 m butterfly, 100 m, 200 m and 400 m individual medley) and 2 silver (50 m free and 50 m butterfly). Hosszú is an active part of the swimming community as well. She is one of 30 swimmers who have founded the Global Association of Professional Swimmers in 2017. She is also working on reforming swimming as an entertainment by being the ambassador for the International Swimming League, a new initiative with the aim of organizing and reorganizing swimming competitions.


2004


2004 Summer Olympics

Hosszú made her international debut at the age of 15 representing Hungary at the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
where she competed in a single event 200-meter freestyle finishing in position number 31 (2:04.22).


2004 European Short Course Swimming Championships

She won her first medal at the
2004 European Short Course Swimming Championships The 8th European Short Course Swimming Championships was an international swimming meet organized by LEN, and held in Vienna, Austria, December 9–12, 2004. The meet featured teams from Europe, swimming in 38 short course events. It was held i ...
, a bronze in the 400-meter individual medley (4:35,41).


2005 European Junior Swimming Championships

At the
2005 European Junior Swimming Championships The 2005 European Junior Swimming Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary 14–17 July. Medal table Medal summary Boy's events , - , 50 m freestyle , - , 100 m freestyle , - , 200 m freestyle , - , 400 m freestyle , - ...
held in Budapest she won three gold medals in 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter individual medley and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. Two silver medals in 400-meter freestyle and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. And a bronze medal in the 800-meter freestyle.


2008 European Championships

She won her first long course medal at the 2008 European Championships, a silver in 400-meter individual medley (4:37.43).


2009 World Championships

At the 2009 World Championships she won two bronze medals in the 200-meter individual medley and 200-meter butterfly before becoming World Champion in the 400-meter individual 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-meter medley and became European Champion in 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter medley and as a member of the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay team.


2011 NCAA Championships

In 2011 Hosszú had one of the finest seasons in college history winning 3 individual National Championships: 200y IM (1:53.39), 400y IM (3:59.75) and 200y fly (1:51.69). She was named Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year, CSCAA Swimmer of the Year and got the
Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...
in swimming and diving, designating her as the nation's top collegiate female athlete for this year in this sport.


2012 Summer Olympics

Competing in the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, 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. Despite that after the disappointment at the 2012 London Olympics, Tamás Gyárfás, the then president of the
Hungarian Swimming Association Hungarian Swimming Association (, , MÚSZ) is the governing body of swimming association in Hungary. It is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1907 on a meeting at the Hungarian Olympic Committee. It is affiliated to: *FINA, the Interna ...
even advised her to retire, she decided not to give up her swimming career and since then she has been coached by her husband Shane Tusup, a former American 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-meter backstroke after qualifying second in the heats (preliminary races), to concentrate on the final of the 200-meter individual medley which she subsequently won with a time of 2:07.92. She then touched third in the 200-meter butterfly behind Liu Zige and
Mireia Belmonte ] Mireia Belmonte García (born 10 November 1990) is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion Swimming (sport), swimmer. She is the former world record holder in the short course 200 metre butterfly, 400 metre individual medley, 40 ...
. She capped off her competition with a final gold in the Swimming at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 400 metre individual medley, 400-meter 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


2015 World Championships

At the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Hosszú again dealt with a monster programme, competing in the 200- and 400-meter individual medley, 100- and 200-meter backstroke, 100- and 200-meter freestyle, and 200-meter butterfly. She posted the top time in the prelims of the 100-meter backstroke, but elected to pull out of the semifinal to concentrate on the 200-meter individual medley final, a decision which ultimately paid off. She broke the previous world record set by
Ariana Kukors Ariana Kukors (born June 1, 1989) is an American former competition swimmer and former world record holder in the 200-meter individual medley (long course). Ariana now works in private coaching related to athletic performance. Kukors has won a ...
back in 2009 in a stunning time of 2:06.12. Hosszú's time of 58.78 in the prelims of the 100-meter backstroke would have earned her a bronze medal in the final; however the 200-meter individual medley final was 30 minutes after the backstroke semifinal and swimming it might have cost her the gold medal and the world record in the 200-meter individual medley. In addition, Hosszú won bronze in the 200-meter backstroke, placed fifth in the 200-meter freestyle, and capped it off with a victory in the 400-meter individual medley 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


2016 Summer Olympics

At the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
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.


2016 World Short Course Championships

In the World Short Course Championships in
Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...
, Hosszú won a record 9 individual medals (7 gold and 2 silver) and reached 11 individual finals. She won the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter individual medley, 100- and 200-meter butterfly, and 100- and 200-meter backstroke. Additionally, she took silver in the 200-meter freestyle and 50-meter backstroke.


2017


2017 Swim Open Stockholm

In April, Hosszú competed in Swim Open Stockholm and won the 1500-meter freestyle event with a time of 16:22.30. She came second in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:57.01, finishing behind
Michelle Coleman Michelle Coleman (born 31 October 1993) is a Swedish former competitive swimmer specialized in the sprint freestyle and backstroke events. She is the current Swedish national record holder in the 100 metre backstroke ( short course), and the 200 ...
. She also came second in the 50-meter backstroke event with a time of 28.54.


2017 World Championships

At the 2017 World Championships in her home country
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, Hosszú swam another rigorous schedule. She won her first gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:07.00. She also won the gold medal and broke the Championships record in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:29.33.


2018


2018 European Championships

At the 2018 European Championship in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
Hosszú won the gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley becoming the first female swimmer to win the same event in five consecutive editions (2010-2018). She joined her compatriot
László Cseh László Cseh (; born 3 December 1985) is a retired Hungarian competitive swimmer and six-time Olympic medalist. He is a 33-time European Champion. His father, László Cseh Sr., also represented Hungary at the Olympics in swimming. In 2020, ...
who achieved the same twice, in the 400m IM (2004-2012) and in the 200m IM (2006-2014).


2019


2019 World Championships

At the 2019 World Championships held in
Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...
, South Korea, Hosszú became the first female swimmer ever to win four straight world titles (2013-2019) in a single event ( 200m IM). Six days later she also won the gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley to become the first woman to win five world titles in the same event and only the second swimmer after
Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...
who achieved the same feat in the 200m fly.


FINA World Cup

On November the 1st Hosszú claimed her 300th overall gold medal at the FINA Swimming World Cup.


International Swimming League

The Hosszú-owned professional swim team,
Team Iron Team Iron is a professional swimming team co-owned by Katinka Hosszú, and a founding member of the International Swimming League. The team is based in Budapest, Hungary, led by general manager Dorina Szekeres and head coach Jozsef Nagy. Durin ...
was founding member of the
International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) was an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...
. She was co-captain of the team alongside
Peter John Stevens Peter John Stevens (born 1 June 1995) is a Slovenian swimmer. He won the title of youth world champion in the 50-metre breaststroke in 2013. In 2016, he won silver in the same discipline seconds at the 50-metre breaststroke on the European Aquat ...
. During the
2019 International Swimming League The 2019 International Swimming League was the inaugural edition of the International Swimming League, a professional swimming league, established in 2019. It comprised eight teams composed of both women and men. The league consisted of seven sho ...
season, Hosszú won the 200IM, 400IM and 200 fly events all 3 times the team competed. She also earned MVP title in the ISL Budapest match in Duna Arena.


2020


2020 European Championships

At the 2020 European Championships Hosszú became the female swimmer with the most medals in the history of the European Championships. After winning one gold (400 IM) one silver (200 fly) and one bronze (200 IM) in Budapest, she now has 24 medals dating back to 2008 (15 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze). Overall, she is ranked only behind Alexander Popov who won 26 medals (21 gold) in his European Champs career.


2020 Summer Olympics

Hosszú did not perform well in the
2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
, failing to reach the 200m backstroke final and finishing only fifth in the 400m medley and seventh in the 200m one. She would attribute this to the standstill in the one year delay caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, cancelling the tournaments she entered to keep herself in competition rhythm, while analysts added that Hosszú was not helped by being among the oldest swimmers and constantly changing coaches starting with her 2018 split with Tusup.


2022-24

In the
2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. These championships included five disciplines, with high diving not staged for this edi ...
, Hosszú failed to medal by finishing 7th in the 200m individual medley and 5th in the 400m individual medley. In the
2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...
that followed, Hosszú only medaled once, as part of Hungary's 4x200m freestyle relay, while only reaching the 200 individual medley final and finishing 8th. Afterwards she claimed that she would probably not be swimming by the
2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
, instead settling down with coach Máté Gelencsér, who she married a few weeks after the European Championship. Hosszú gave birth to daughter in August 2023, and a few months later started training hoping to enter her sixth Olympics. but she wound up not reaching the necessary qualifying times.


Personal best times


Long course


Short course


International championships (50 m)

: Hosszu qualified from the heats, but scratched the semi-finals : Hosszu qualified from the semi-finals, but scratched the final


See also

*
World record progression 100 metres backstroke This is a history of the 100 m backstroke world record as swum in both long-course (50 m; Olympic) pools and short-course (25 m) pools—the two categories recognized/tracked by FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), ...
*
World record progression 200 metres backstroke This is a history of the progression of the world record for the 200-meter backstroke event. It is a listing of the fastest-time-ever swum in the event, in both long course (50-meter) and Short course (swimming), short course (25-meter) swimmin ...
*
World record progression 100 metres individual medley This is a listing of the history of the World Record in the swimming event: 100 Individual Medley. The event consists of one 25-meter lap of each stroke (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style ...
*
World record progression 200 metres individual medley The first world record in the 200 metres individual medley in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognised by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Ang ...
*
World record progression 400 metres individual medley The first world record in the 400 metres individual medley in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognized by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germa ...
* List of European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women) *
List of European Short Course Swimming Championships medalists (women) This is the complete list of women's European Short Course Swimming Championships medalists in swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exer ...
*
List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women) This is the complete list of women's World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming from 1973 to 2024. Medalists Bold numbers in brackets denotes record number of victories in corresponding disciplines. 50 metre freestyle *Medals: 100 ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hosszu, Katinka 1989 births Living people Hungarian female freestyle swimmers Hungarian female medley swimmers Hungarian female butterfly swimmers Hungarian female backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for Hungary Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Pécs World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record holders in swimming Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Hungarian female breaststroke swimmers Olympic silver medalists for Hungary Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming University of Southern California alumni Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Hungarian sportswomen USC Trojans women's swimmers Hungarian expatriate swimmers in the United States