Dubai: Shane Tusup, coach-and-husband of Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu, was all praise for his wife’s nine-medal haul in round two of the seven-stage Fina/Mastbank Swimming World Cup at Dubai’s Hamdan Sports Complex on Monday.
Hosszu, 25, the 2012 and 2013 series’ champion and current series’ leader won eight gold medals and one bronze, breaking two world records in the 100-metre individual medley heats (56.86) and 200-metre individual medley final (2:02.13).
This follows on from a 10-medal haul in round one of the series in Doha, Qatar, last week, where she won seven gold medals, one silver and two bronze.
“As a husband I am in awe, and as a coach that was exactly what we wanted to do,” said American-born Tusup, aged 26.
“Even the ones that didn’t go our way — where we wanted to go a little faster — they were still amazing swims. Her 100-metre backstroke was a European record and her textile best.”
With 15 gold medals, one silver and three bronze from the first two rounds of the series, Hosszu is well on course for a hat-trick of World Cup titles but Tusup is keen to keep her grounded. “We don’t like to count our chickens before they hatch,” he added. “We are going to stay focused as if it [the series win] is not the case and try and rack up points to play the game as you are supposed to play. Points-wise it [series victory] may appear to be the case, but we’ll stay focused and do what we do.”
Tusup, who married Hosszu last year, after they met at the University of Southern California six years ago, said the husband-coach relationship with his wife, was often strained. “It’s tough, but we’ve learnt to deal with it. We switch between being coach and swimmer and husband and wife. We are getting good at it but I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone: it gets a little intense.
“I don’t want to be the one holding her back or the reason she doesn’t get what she wants. If she can’t perform that’s fine, but I don’t want to be that reason. I feel a lot of pressure.
“I want to be the best coach I can be and give all the right advice. I make the strategy, plan the workouts and dry-land training. Everything she does is based on my ideas and philosophies.
“I just don’t want to be the one to let her down. That’s very stressful. It’s tough because you want your wife to do well, but you also because it’s your programme. It’s my wife’s career I’m playing with, so I’m always a little worried.”
Other Dubai-leg highlights included four wins in four events for the Netherland’s Inge Dekker and men’s series leader and 2011 and 2013 men’s series champion Chad Le Clos of South Africa. Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta also got the event’s only other world record, in the 200-metre breaststroke in a time of 2:00.48.
