In Csíksereda, in front of a full house, the Iron Lady spoke about the biggest passion of her life.
As one of the highlights of the fourth edition of the Running Festival Csíkszereda, three-time Olympic champion swimmer Katinka Hosszú visited the county seat of Harghita. In front of a full house, the athlete spoke openly about his life's greatest passion, swimming, but also discussed the topics of family, motivation, success, and resignation.
Hundreds of interested people welcomed Katinka Hosszú in Csíksereda, who appeared as the opening act of the fourth Running Festival event. The 35-year-old athlete was questioned by Zoltán Szép, a sports journalist, radio host, and editor, and then the audience had the opportunity to ask their questions.
Routines instead of superstitions
When asked if she likes swimming, Katinka Hosszú said that she is an amazingly lucky person, because at the age of three she met what she still loves to do, swimming. As it was Friday the 13th, another question arose: is the swimmer who has had an extraordinary career superstitious? As he said, he never considered himself superstitious, his preparation before competitions and finals was more characterized by routines.
"I had to go through them step by step before stepping on the starting stone in order to be able to give my best. I call it a routine because I could control them, I never had any superstitions that were not influenced by me"
he said. He added that he didn't have mascots either, but he "protected himself a lot" against situations where the lack of an item could have caused difficulties. If he had a favorite swimming cap, for example, or glasses, it mostly concerned the type, of which he had "at least twenty".
At the same time, he had numerous problems with his swimming equipment, he revealed when asked by the Olympic champion Zoltán Szép, that he had never been like Kristóf Milák in Paris, who had problems with his swimming trunks.
"There were many such situations. For example, when one of my swimming goggles slipped off at the start of the World Cup final and filled with water. I also had a dress break in the final. However, during my more than thirty-year swimming career, all kinds of things happened to me. I always tried to stay calm and thought, I'm glad it happened, next time I'll see if it won't happen"
said Katinka Hosszú.
The secret of success
When asked about the secret of success and her own life story, Katinka put it like this. people's first thought is usually about the sacrifices behind the results.
"The fact that I had to get up very early, that I trained 6-8 hours every day for thirty years dwarfs how much I got from swimming, how much joy swimming gave me. My story is not a story of suffering, but a story of joy. I was always looking to find the place where they like to swim and where I like to swim. That's what always drove me forward"
he said. He added: he fell in love with sports in his childhood, his grandfather, László Bakos, taught him to swim.
"My grandfather loved and respected sports very much. He taught me to set goals. He also taught me that it is not enough to set goals and make plans together. I feel that this has followed me throughout my career. There were times when I felt that it wasn't my place, but somehow I always found my way back to the fact that I really like swimming, that's actually why I do it and that's why I still do it and love swimming. I also look back on my failures with a smile, as this was part of my journey," said the swimmer.
London is the teacher
Regarding the failures, he said that the 2012 London Olympics provided the most important lessons in this regard. He prepared for the competition in America and came to the island country as the tournament's biggest contender. "I arrived in London and found myself before the final when all the doubts that had been going through my head for the past few years came back to me. I didn't think about it until then because everyone told me to just think positively and think about becoming an Olympic champion. And then he came out a few minutes before the final and the thoughts swirled in my head, what would happen if I didn't become Olympic champion? What if I didn't prepare enough?” he recalled. He added that he lost a body-length advantage at the half-distance in the cited final and finished in fourth place.
“That was the moment I realized that if I continue to be afraid of failure, it will happen again. I decided that I would make friends with failure and not be afraid of it. Of course, this did not happen overnight, but for the next four years, my preparation for the next Olympics was actually about this. I felt that I managed to achieve this, that I traveled to Rio very calmly"
- revived Katinka Hosszú. This time, the weight of the prospect did not weigh on the swimmer, he ended the 2016 Olympic Games with three gold and one silver medals.
Regarding the world record, Katinka Hosszú noted that these records were extremely important to her. "If someone wins an Olympics, it means that he is the best at that moment, but if someone swims a world record, then no one has ever been better than him. This was very motivating for me. If they ask me what I remember as my greatest success, I'll definitely say the world record first," he emphasized.
Regarding his most recent Olympics in Tokyo, the competitor shared that the world competition without spectators, postponed by a year, could not recall the usual atmosphere of the Olympic Games at all.
Source: Running Festival Csíkszereda/Maszol
Grandpa's example
Among her coaches, Katinka Hosszú singled out her grandfather, László Bakos. "He taught me to swim, he started me on my way, he showed me how much you can love swimming. He never made me feel that I should be a swimmer or do anything, but always meant something extra. It was a game. When I think back to my childhood, it's like I went to two schools, I had two sets of friends. The competitions were like class trips. My grandfather was the one I called after every race. After I was already a world record holder, I won the Olympics, he always found something that could have been done better. You could call me at any time asking what could be improved," he shared.
Iron lady
The term "Iron Lady", mentioned so many times by the international press and attached to the name of Katinka Hosszú as an almost permanent epithet, was discussed. As mentioned, the epithet was first used by Chinese sports leaders, then picked up by journalists and spread worldwide, expressing Katinka's strength, ability to fight, and perseverance.
"For me, this name means that I am very focused on something and that I focus on my goals and subordinate everything else to achieve them. Getting the most out of myself is what Iron Lady meant to me. I can also say about risk-taking and change that it is difficult to make great progress without taking them on."
he said. He added that he considers himself the type of person who looks for criticism and is fired up and encouraged to perform better.
The inevitable question was also asked: if Katinka Hosszú had not become a swimmer, what sport would she have chosen? As mentioned, he played a lot of chess with his grandfather, and his father played basketball and would have liked him to have succeeded in that. In addition to these, she tried gymnastics, football, and ballet, but always found her way back to swimming, which is much more and more complex than wall-to-wall monotonous mileage.
The athlete recalled the last preparation for the Olympics in Paris, which finally ended with the fact that, as a new mother, with just a few months of preparation behind her, she missed the level time of the World Games by just a hair.
And how long will Katinka Hosszú swim?
As he said when asked, he is currently registered as an active swimming competitor, which he would not like to change for the time being. Although nowadays she mainly deals with education and raising her child, she would not give up her racing career just yet. Every year, they agree again and again with their age and career peers, Evelin Verrasztó and Zsuzsanna Jakabos.
At the end of the discussion, Katinka Hosszú answered the viewers' questions, and after taking countless photos together and signing signatures, she said goodbye to the audience in Csikszereda.
Featured image: Katinka Hosszú's Facebook page
