The Morning Swim Show, May 31, 2012: No Racing, Just Training for Katinka Hosszu in Final Weeks Before Olympics

PHOENIX, Arizona, May 31. LAST week, Katinka Hosszu talked with Jeff Commings in the middle of her gold medal campaign at the European championships, and we bring you that interview on today's edition of The Morning Swim Show.

In addition to talking about winning the 200 IM and 400 IM at the meet, Hosszu talks about the crowd support of the athletes. Interestingly, she also said she prefers to not do a lot of racing in the final weeks before a big meet, and will be hunkered down in tough training in order to be ready to race the best at the Olympic Games. Be sure to visit SwimmingWorld.TV for more video interviews.

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Jeff Commings: Hi, Katinka. Welcome back to the show. Congratulations. Two gold medals so far at Europeans. So how did it feel?

Katinka Hosszu: Hi, thank you. I mean, I've been pretty tired. Basically came from training, so the races have been pretty tough, but I'm happy with the times actually and, obviously, the places, too.

Jeff Commings: So are you saying, basically, you came right from training? You didn't rest much for this meet?

Katinka Hosszu: I rested about, like, two or three days before, basically, the weekend before because the meet started on Monday. So, yeah, that's how — that's about it.

Jeff Commings: So knowing that you didn't put in much rest, you gotta be happy with the 4:33 and a 2:10 in the IMs.

Katinka Hosszu: Yeah, I'm pretty happy, actually. I think these times — I look pretty good for the Olympics so far.

Jeff Commings: When you look back on those two races, was there anything that, you know, you could work on in order to be better at the Olympics?

Katinka Hosszu: I mean, there are always a lot of things to work on, so there is a lot of things I think we can definitely improve for the upcoming two and a half months, so I'm gonna be focusing on my breaststroke and my turns and stuff like that.

Jeff Commings: And you're gonna also be swimming the 200 fly at Europeans, right?

Katinka Hosszu: Yeah, that's actually gonna be tomorrow.

Jeff Commings: And what are your — what's your outlook for that knowing how well you've been swimming this week?

Katinka Hosszu: I'm hoping for a pretty good time. I mean, as I said, I wasn't really rested, so I'm excited to swim it and just get out and race to see what I can do right now.

Jeff Commings: Now, Hungary is the host of the European championships. How have they been embracing this meet and how well you guys have been doing?

Katinka Hosszu: I mean, we've been doing great. We had — I can't even count how many gold medals so far. So I'm really happy. Our whole team is here. Everyone is racing. I know many of us are not rested, so we are doing pretty good and the crowd is awesome, so it's nice to swim here.

Jeff Commings: Is this kind of changing how Hungary is looking at the possible performance and the chances for medals at the Olympics?

Katinka Hosszu: I mean, this is basically a meet, like, we are using this meet as a preparation for the Olympics. So it's kind of just like to see how things are going and what we can improve on. So I'm happy to be here and got the chance to swim before the Olympics to get up and race a little.

Jeff Commings: Now, when you come back to — you're coming back to the United States, I would imagine, pretty soon after the meet?

Katinka Hosszu: Yeah, I'm coming back right after, actually.

Jeff Commings: And are you gonna swim in any other meets before the Olympics or will this be your last one?

Katinka Hosszu: I don't believe so. I think this is my last before the Olympics so I'm just gonna be focusing on training.

Jeff Commings: Is that — you know, a lot — there are some people who like to do a lot of racing before the Olympics. I know we talked to your teammate Jessica Hardy, who said she's gonna be racing a lot. Do you prefer to not do a lot of racing before a big meet or, you know, is it the other way around?

Katinka Hosszu: Yeah, I mean, for Jessica Hardy, she's a sprinter so it's a little bit different for her. For where I am, I mean, I need a lot of training so I like to train as much as I can, but, I mean, I also need a little bit of racing so I think I raced enough for this year so I think I'm gonna be ready for the Olympics.

Jeff Commings: Well, between NCAAs and then you went to Grand Prix and now European championships. Yeah, I say you've done enough racing.

Katinka Hosszu: Yeah.

Jeff Commings: Well, Katinka, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck in your 200 fly tomorrow and we'll be watching for you in London.

Katinka Hosszu: Thank you.

Jeff Commings: All right thank you very much.

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