Katinka Hosszú is an IM, butterfly, and freestyle swimmer, who received two gold medals (200 & 400 IM) and a bronze (200 fly) within the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona. Simply days after Barcelona completed, Katinka broke six short-course world information in 5 days (100 IM thrice, 200 IM twice, 400 IM as soon as) in constructing a giant lead within the 2013 FINA World Cup Tour.
Shane Tusup is a former USC Trojan swimmer, proprietor of the Toos Sports activities Company, and coach of Katinka. The couple bought married within the Seychelles in August, 2013, and presently dwell in Budapest, Hungary.
Questions by Craig Lord at SwimVortex in cooperation with Area Water Intuition
IN YOUR ELEMENT
What does water imply to you?
Katinka: Water has been round me my entire life. My grandfather was a swimming coach, and he took me to the pool earlier than I used to be even one 12 months outdated, only a few months, in truth. Typically I went to the pool as a substitute of going to kindergarten. So I’ve all the time appeared ahead to spending time within the water, and even once we go on trip, we go to the seaside, someplace there’s a pool, or a minimum of a waterfall.
Shane: I’ve by no means actually considered what water means to me earlier than, however after I look again on it, I’ve all the time been drawn to water and watersports my complete life. I used to be born on the seaside, I moved to New York with my household, the place I joined the swim staff, and even in Hungary there’s a historical past of swimming, so it’s all the time been current.
What’s water intuition?
Katinka: Even after about 20 years of coaching and swimming, typically I get within the pool and I simply really feel higher. After, say, a very onerous dry land session, I get within the water and it feels so a lot better. Typically I cease for a second and simply benefit from the swimming, to really feel the water, and all my actions in it.
Shane: Once I watch Katinka swimming, I stroll up and down the pool, and ultimately I see a sample of how she is swimming and the way the strokes are going at that second, which supplies me a basic image of precisely the place we’re and what we’re doing. There’ve been a few instances, comparable to earlier than Brief Course Worlds, when rapidly I bought this bizarre feeling – I can’t actually clarify it – that she’d do unbelievable issues. It’s actually onerous to explain precisely what offers me that feeling, however I get it beforehand and know that she’s going to blow up and go actually quick.
WINNING HABITS – how do the next manifest themselves in your life:
Devotion?
Shane: How keen are you to do what you say you’re truly going to do – are you simply going to speak about the way you wish to work onerous and be a world file holder, world champion, Olympic medallist, or are you keen to sacrifice issues to take these steps ahead, to take motion and do the onerous work, giving up issues which may be uncomfortable for us.
Katinka: It’s tough so as to add something to what Shane stated about this stuff, however I’ll strive. For me, devotion is about how a lot you’re keen to sacrifice on your objectives.
Willpower?
Shane: It’s the willingness to remain on prime of the monitor you’re following, even when life throws you a curve ball or issues don’t go solely in response to plan, and so they take you in one other route than you initially thought. So it’s about taking issues as they arrive, transferring ahead, and adjusting as wanted.
Katinka: It’s about how badly you need one thing and the way keen you might be to work onerous for it. On days while you’re not feeling that nice, you continue to have to put in the identical form of work that you just did on different days when every little thing was excellent. In coaching I all the time attempt to do my finest, and even when I really feel a bit of off that day, I nonetheless a minimum of attempt to put the trouble in even when the instances aren’t coming.
Self-discipline?
Shane: When you’ve found out what your large image aim is, you have to determine what the opposite smaller (incremental) objectives are to get there. Self-discipline is caring for your objectives one step at a time, even when it’s not snug or enjoyable, as a way to transfer ahead (in direction of the large image aim).
Katinka: In a approach, our entire day is about scheduling, so I’m all the time conscious what I have to do, even after I’m not within the pool or the gymnasium – I would like to look at what I eat, I have to relaxation, I have to do rehab, for instance. So it’s about all the time holding on monitor and holding my objectives in thoughts 24 hours a day.
WHAT …
motivates you?
Katinka: My objectives. I’ve large objectives, one among which is clearly going to Rio, and after London we set the objectives for the subsequent 4 years. However I all the time have smaller objectives for apply, in a set for instance, and these are the issues that inspire me on daily basis.
Shane: I’m form of hooked on success, not essentially in a world sense when it comes to cash, accomplishments, issues like that, however somewhat when it comes to attaining the objectives I set for myself. This may very well be so simple as, for instance, enjoying a online game and attempting to get to the subsequent stage, that turns into my habit, to attempt to discover a option to get myself to the subsequent stage. Swimming’s an important avenue for that as a result of there are such a lot of alternative ways to set objectives – the World Cup, for Brief Course Europeans, for European Championships, World Championships, something you may consider. It makes it enjoyable, attaining smaller objectives in addition to larger ones, and also you inspire your self with this adrenalin that retains going.
music finest describes your work ethic?
Katinka: Kanye West’s “Monster”. I attempt to be very aggressive in apply, and that music goes in that route.
is the which means of time to you?
Katinka: I really like swimming instances. (In a extra basic sense,) I want there have been extra hours in a day. I might positively prepare extra and do different stuff extra as effectively. I attempt to get pleasure from my time within the current, I’m having a whole lot of enjoyable coaching with Shane, travelling, having enjoyable with racing and swimming generally.
Shane: Time is essentially the most priceless factor any of us have, extra so than cash or anything – you may’t purchase it, you may’t make extra of it, you’ve bought solely as a lot time as there may be. So it’s fairly acceptable that swimming is the game we’re concerned with, its (success is) decided by time. (Given its shortage), it’s a must to be clever with how one can use it, what you select to do with it, who you select to spend that point with. I don’t have to decide on if I wish to coach or to spend my time with Katinka, I’m a really fortunate man to have the ability to coach my spouse, the individual I wish to spend my life with, to journey together with her and spend my time together with her between practices and locations, so time for me is extraordinarily necessary.
expertise and mindset does a podium-placer want?
Katinka: You need to do the work, it’s a must to be proficient, however in finals and large competitions, a lot of the athletes have executed the work and are proficient, so mindset and having the ability to give every little thing you’ve bought within the race is what makes the distinction between being within the remaining and getting on to the rostrum.
Shane: I agree with Katinka, and also you even have to have the ability to get pleasure from what you’re doing. No race on the prime stage goes to be simple, no exercise in getting there may be going to be simple, the street is lengthy and onerous, you could have to have the ability to rise up there and easily get pleasure from what you’re doing. It’s simple to say “go and revel in your self”, however I don’t suppose it’s that simple, lots of people have a tough time with that.
was the very best race you ever noticed?
Katinka: It’s a very robust query, and I don’t suppose I may select only one. It doesn’t essentially have to be a remaining, it may very well be one of many races main as much as it, and it depends upon what you’re searching for. A race that somebody wins by 10m may very well be an important race, however when you’re searching for an in depth, thrilling race, it’s a distinct story.
Shane: I agree with what she stated, it’s actually robust, it depends upon what perspective you’re it with. Whenever you’re concerned with swimming extra about what goes into it than somebody who’s simply watching on TV, and every little thing has an enormous again story to it. I’m going to attempt to be unbiased, however I’m going to should say that for me it was Katinka’s 200 IM on the finals in Barcelona. It was the primary Lengthy Course Championship since London, and theoretically the 400 is seen as her higher race, and the 200 the weaker of the 2, however she simply stated, “You recognize what, I’m simply going to go for it and take what I would like, see you guys later”, and it was nice to see her reply like that.
INSPIRATION
When and in what circumstances had been you first conscious of swimming on the Olympic Video games and what drew your consideration and caught your curiosity?
Katinka: My grandfather taught me to swim and I used to be fairly profitable in my age teams rising up. Once I was 10 years outdated, I noticed a video of an interview with myself, and whereas I don’t truly keep in mind it, I clearly stated that I used to be going to be an Olympic champion in 2004. I made the Olympic staff in 2004, however I solely got here thirty first, so I nonetheless had an extended option to go, but it surely appears I used to be already considering of it after I was very younger. It was all the time my aim to symbolize Hungary, and I’m fairly positive my grandfather additionally influenced me so much (in striving for that aim).
Shane: I keep in mind watching in our front room with my mother and father, and it offers me the identical form of good feeling that considering again on Christmas does while you had been rising up. I don’t keep in mind the specifics of what I advised my mother and father, however I do keep in mind telling them I needed to be within the Olympics and attain issues. I used to be very devoted as an age group swimmer, and my large aim was to attempt to make the US Olympic trial lower, to maneuver up the ranks and attempt to qualify in the future. So every little thing I did season to season was all the time primarily based round that concept.
CHALLENGE
You’re on Area World Cup Tour: what’s the aim – what do you want to emerge with to take into the season forward?
Katinka: As we stated earlier, we all the time have objectives, and each time I rise up on the block I often have a aim in thoughts. So collaborating within the World cup Tour offers me a whole lot of alternative to succeed in these objectives.
Shane: When a swimmer doesn’t swim constantly back-to-back, I wouldn’t get a view of precisely the place they’re – I’d get a view of the place they’re at that time limit, but it surely’s not constant. Final 12 months it was good that she did the Tour as a result of I understood precisely the place her strokes had been technically, how constant she was, how she swam when she was drained or contemporary, and I actually related with Katinka and felt extra snug with how I approached issues after the Tour than I did earlier than the Tour. Even after Barcelona this 12 months, I’m nonetheless studying issues, and in contrast with 2012, this 12 months I’ve seen much more technical elements we nonetheless wish to work on with the lengthy course season developing. I really like that she will race and get the cash, battle for the general champion title, and set ourselves up for the lengthy course season. For me, quick course metres and lengthy course metres aren’t that totally different, they’re so much nearer and extra related than most individuals suppose, so the way in which I design the (coaching) program was to make use of them (lengthy and quick course) to affect one another. We used 2012 to affect 2013, and 2013 quick course meters will affect 2014.
So forward of the tour, do you resolve you’re going to swim all 8 meets, and in that case set the aim of successful the general title?
Shane: We’ve got to be trustworthy with ourselves right here – anybody who swims all 8 meets will wish to win the general title. Each of us are very aggressive, in order that’s all the time going to be the aim. If it’s only a race or a contest, clearly the aim remains to be to win, there could also be different particular objectives or sub-goals in thoughts, however I don’t suppose Katinka has ever swum a race and never tried to win.
Again in August, you took care of a whole lot of the Tour’s enterprise with these six world information and the factors they amassed – had been any of these focused swims to attempt to get near the file?
Shane: I used to be fairly assured that she would get them. She simply missed them in Turkey in Istanbul (on the 2012 world Brief Course Championships), and if she was feeling good I advised her that she ought to go for it and the remainder was as much as her.
Katinka: I used to be fairly assured going into the World Cup Tour after Barcelona, particularly being excited at how effectively I did, so after the large meet it was a whole lot of enjoyable with out the stress. Getting into attempting to interrupt a world file in prelims appeared fairly loopy to me at first, however after breaking the primary one in prelims I believed why not?
NAME …
Three locations on the swimming path that you just intend to return to for leisure in the future
Katinka: I might love to return to a whole lot of locations. More often than not we simply see the lodge and never a lot else, and I’m very curious, there are such a lot of locations I’d like to return to. We’ve been lucky to journey a lot, however there are additionally many locations I haven’t been that I’d prefer to see as effectively, so I feel we’re going to maintain travelling for some time. If I actually had to decide on, I actually love Tokyo, and likewise California. I grew up within the countryside, so I’m extra of a metropolis lady now, and whereas I really like entering into nature, I’m not a loopy camper or something like that.
Shane: Wherever makes Katka completely satisfied, I’d be completely satisfied to return and revisit.
