Dubai: Katinka Hosszu may be the golden girl of swimming at the moment, but the 25-year-old Hungarian swimmer believes she is indeed the “Iron Lady”.
In 2012, while participating at the final round of the Fina World Cup in Beijing, the Chinese media dubbed her the “Iron Lady” for her exploits in the pool. Two years on, Hosszu has grown to like the term and even embraced it wholeheartedly as it best depicts her personality as an athlete.
“Once I am in the pool I am no longer Katinka Hosszu. I am the ‘Iron Lady’. This defines my personality. It gives me confidence to get better. It shows the world what I am made of,” Hosszu said a day before the start of the second round of the Fina/Mastbank Swimming World Cup at the Hamdan Sports Complex.
“At first I was not too much at home with the term ‘Iron Lady’. But as time went by I saw that it fitted me well. It showed that I am tough, and that I am someone who is not afraid of failing. So I just went with it and found that being an Iron Lady meant racing, swimming, competing and just giving of my best in the pool,” she added.
Two days back, the swimmer was at her very best at the Hamad Aquatics Centre in neighbouring Qatar, setting three new world records, in the bargain collecting 10 medals, seven of which were gold.
Great shape
Coming to Dubai, Hosszu finds herself in a unique position. While the number of world records she holds has not actually grown, the number of times she has broken these records has. “It’s just that I am in peak form and great shape and that really matters to me right now. In Doha, at least three world records were within my reach and for sure I will be looking at setting new marks here,” she promised.
She missed the world marks by 1500ths of a second in the 100 metres backstroke, by three tenths of a second in the 200 metres freestyle and also the 200 metres freestyle. “For me Dubai has been such a great destination that I will really push this here and attempt getting these records and more in the next two days,” Hosszu vowed.
One of the things she does is view all her race videos after the competition with her chief coach and husband Shane Tusup. “I can see a lot of mistakes and that means I can improve further. It also means that I am getting to the top,” Hosszu said.
“I may be winning a lot of gold medals, but ‘Iron Lady’ is what fits me best,” she said.
