Swimming: I’m not thinking about retiring – Katinka Hosszú

–It is now slack season, yet you could stir the water.
– Me? But I didn't do anything, nor did I say anything – Katinka Hosszú responded to the false news of the three-time Olympic champion retiring that swept through the media a few days ago.

–Were you surprised by the false news?
– I'm not saying that it's okay, but over the years, I've gotten used to news about me that even I don't know what it's about — who got the information and where it came from.

–So, let's get started with the most important question: are you planning on retiring?
– No. I'll retire one day, and there's a lot less time in front of me than there is behind me in swimming for sure. However, some of the allegations in the press included only one true statement because I'm really turning thirty-three in May, and I feel a little bad about that because I still enjoy swimming.

–Now, that's something you'll never convince me of...
– Well, it's true! This is true even if this Olympics was different for me from previous competitions because I felt the external pressure exponentially. But I rested a lot after Tokyo, and during this time I did not even think about when I would go down to the swimming pool again. After a while though, I started to miss swimming. It's not the feeling of me winning, the award ceremonies, or the fact that after the victory many people write about me a lot, but the work, how the adrenaline works in me during competitions, that my body is in good shape, and that I can do almost anything, everything.

UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE: SHE STILL ENJOYS SWIMMING

–When did you go to the swimming pool again after Tokyo?
– Two or three weeks before the short-course national championship in November... with the plan to go to the World Short Course Championship in December and swim in an event or two. By then, I had overcome all the difficulties of returning, but then because of my coronavirus infection, I had to start everything all over again.

–You've previously insisted for years that there is no point in stopping for longer because it is terribly difficult to return after that. So, is there no risk of resting for months?
– The good thing was that I didn't care about it at all. I wasn't stressing about how hard the comeback will be, and I wasn't thinking about getting in shape for this or that race. I only went down to the swimming pool when I wanted to do it all again, and although this period is not easy for me at all, there is no pressure or nervousness in me about having to quickly reach the level I have been at.

–Let's go back a little to Tokyo: although there is no point in starting sentences with if, in your case, it is clear that you would've closed this Olympics in a very different way if it was held at its original time, in the summer of 2020...
– I do not argue with this, but we can say that I really have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. I hate to make excuses, I didn't do it before Tokyo either, even though I didn't really know what was going on with me and around me: I just didn't have handrails, it hasn't happened to me in about eight years as it did during the pandemic. There were no races, I didn't go along the usual path, I couldn't move from one to two, I felt a little bit like I was at a disadvantage compared to the others. All I had left was to try to make the most of this situation.

–So, it was in the cards that you wouldn't make it to the podium at the Olympics, and that you'd get vituperated. Did you feel hurt?
– I've been in elite sports for a long time, so I knew something like this would happen if I didn't succeed at the Olympics. I was just talking about the pressure before Tokyo because I exponentially felt it this time. After the competition, I would have told everyone: “do you think I didn't want to win?” or that “do you think it didn't hurt me that I didn't make it” I didn't do it, but instead, I said with my head up that that's all I could do this time. Besides, I thought about it that time and I still think the same: you always have to look at the big picture – I've won the Olympics before. Three times.

–In the mixed zone in Tokyo, you said you certainly can't finish your career like that. And now, you've been preparing at full intensity for weeks, and as you said, you're not thinking about retiring yet. What motivates you?
– I've always been motivated by my own goals. If I found something that ignited the fire in me, it always took me forward in everyday life and gave me the strength for the hard work.

–I guess you've found one this time as well.
– During my break, I spent a lot of time in Naples, as the international swimming league competitions were held there, and we took trips to several places from there. We were in Sicily when it hit me that it's really important to go into 2022 with a plan, a goal. I found out what it could be: I want to be the first swimmer to have a hundred medals from world competitions. I have earned ninety-six so far, and even though I am already leading this special ranking, I am very motivated to have a Hungarian swimmer, namely me, who reaches 100 first.

EVEN MICHAEL PHELPS CAN BE "DEFEATED"

–Let's stop for a moment: ninety-six medals! I understand that you've set new goals, but do you understand what all these medals mean, do you understand what you've accomplished in the last few years?
– The longer rest was also good for this as I stopped a little and appreciated what I had achieved. I've never dreamed of winning so many medals in world competitions, I've just done my job.

–Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Sarah Sjöström – to list the medal stackers, but let's turn it around. Should I list the swimmers behind you in this ranking?
– I have to get used to that because Phelps is an epochal swimmer. He marched at the Olympics and World Championships, but there's a comparison where I'm ahead of him.

–In addition, Phelps and the others have many more relay medals in their collections. In your case, this is "only" four medallions out of the ninety-six.
– The list is more beautiful because of this! A swimming portal has recently published a summary in which this century's world records were summed up. Phelps leads with twenty-nine records for men, and I lead the way in women with twenty.

–So, it's fair to say that it's not just Michael Phelps that we can say he's an epochal swimmer.
– It's not that easy to label yourself with different epithets. What I can say about myself today is that I'm one of the best swimmers in the world.

–Who – as you say it – starts to burn again at a thousand degrees.
– I've learned over the years that it's always the path that's important... the path that leads me to my destination. Now that they've started to spread that I'm retiring, it's only strengthened me even more – as well as the fact that I might appreciate being a swimmer even more, that I can do what I love. I'm currently training in Tenerife, swimming five hours a day, and in the sun! I really enjoy this, as well as the fact that while I'm sweating in the gym, I see the ocean. I really feel that it's a profession I love, in which I'm one of the best in the world. I'd enjoy it as long as I could.

–That's the part I understand but does your body understand? You're not old at all, but in swimming, especially since one of your main events is the 400 medley, you're not considered young at thirty-two.
– For now, I don't feel like it's harder to prepare than before, but ask me about it in a few months, say, at the national championship! This does not mean that I live easy days since I am not yet in shape. I am currently living in the phase of losing weight: it is clear that since I am not yet physically in top shape, work is also more difficult. But luckily, my shoulders are fine, which means I don't have anything to back down from. Monotony is the only problem; we need constant creativity to go forward.

–Is the weight melting off fast?
– My weight is changing from week to week. I plan to regain my competitive weight by the end of March or the beginning of April, but that does not mean that I will not be competing until then, as I will be participating in a competition at the beginning of February.

–In other words, it is important that you can train again as before so that you can compete a lot, and it matters less that you might lose in these tournaments.
– Even though I've won everything I could before, I've never experienced it from the inside that I always have to win. Of course, there was always great joy, but I consider the road that got me here a real success, experience, and performance. So, I'd like to turn back to what we've been talking about: it's the path that leads to the finish line.

SHE WOULDN'T MIND IF THERE WAS GOLD AMONG THEM...

–On the road you're on now, you think about when you might be able to earn your 100^th medal at a world competition.
– Can you imagine there one of the people whom I've already talked to about my decision asked me what if I don't reach 100? I'll be honest: I didn't even understand the question... I never started to reach my goals while fearing what would happen if I didn't succeed — no! I've always been brave, and that's what I'm doing this time. If I get to, let's say, ninety-nine, I'm not going to be disappointed or dissatisfied. If we don't fight for our goals, if we don't even try to achieve them, we'll never know if we can do it. I work hard, but I don't think about when I can achieve my goal. So, what I can say for sure is that I don't rush to reach 100 as soon as possible.

–Seeing and knowing that everything is important that is about Katinka Hosszú, I have to ask: do you expect that when you move forward, questions such as “when will you reach the 100 medals?” “Will you announce your retirement by the pool?” “Will you collect your 100^th world competition medal at the World Championships in Fukuoka or the Europeans in Rome?” will come?
– Wait! I didn't say I'll retire after my 100^th medal. It's possible that when I reach 100, I feel like I've had enough, but I'm not thinking about that yet. I really don't have any plans in my head when it comes to retiring. For now, it's just important that I get back in shape so that in May when I return to Japan, I'll show you what's in me. These comebacks are a hall of my career anyway: I am not going back to Tokyo, as Fukuoka is hosting the World Championships, but it's also Japan. Four years after the London Olympics, I swam in the same pool at the European Championships, so I had an even greater desire to prove myself.

–Not to mention that Rome is hosting the European Championships in August. In 2009, you won your first world title in the Eternal City. In what events do you aim to achieve your goal?
– I focus on the medley. I don't want to do the backstroke in world competitions anymore, but the butterfly all the more.

–Let's say you reach the 100 medals because why wouldn't you, but will you be disappointed if there is not a single gold among them?
– No, but of course, it would be nice if there was a gold among them...

Translated by Vanda Orosz