Katinka Hosszú and Árpád Petrov left to the first two stops of this year’s World Cup series after more than three-weeks of work. Considering only the number of medals we can say that Iron Swim team complemented with Dániel Dudás closed a very successful tour, since 12 gold, 5 silver and 12 bronze medals arrived home with them.
However, it is much more important how the team evaluates the performance.
‘I could see a lot of things that came from trainings’ started Árpád Petrov, head coach of Iron Swim. ‘I feel that these two competitions meant great feedback that it is very good what we are doing, everything went as it should have gone. I liked the most that Katinka competed with high spirit, and how she gave herself up to racing. 200 fly or 100 back was also the third event on the respective day, and she did not spare at all, she tried to get the maximum out of all events. Surely, I had no doubts about her motivation. If we trained badly, it could have signs, but it seems that she still enjoys work, and her endurance is also recovered. She became explosive that could be seen in 50m events in Kazan.’
Among the gold medals victory in 100 back in Doha may emerge, where she prevailed in the last 50 m with excellent time.
‘100 back in Doha was positive feedback for both of us’ said Árpád Petrov. ‘We knew that a good time was needed against the Dutch rival, the goal was under 1 minute, but we did not expect that she could beat her time in Glasgow. Regeneration was also good. It is quite reassuring that she could swim the second 50m like that after two events.’
Many people were surprised that Katinka entered all three breast events in Doha, but as she believes, competition is the best training, and she wanted to exceed the series load to see what she could do in breast, and the events fitted perfectly into her program.
‘It will be continued, especially in short course’ said Petrov. ‘She would like to fine-tune her breast as all other events, since a medley specialist must bring the maximum in all four events, and World Cup is a perfect option for it.’
The next stops of the World Cup series will be held in a short course pool, so the focus in training will change in the upcoming ten days, even more the experiences so far will be built in, too.
‘Due to short course, certainly, turns are more emphasized’ started Petrov. ‘In the previous weeks, during trainings and competitions, we got to know each other even more with Katinka, and now we both feel when to push or when to stop ourselves and each other. I can say that I have never met a swimmer with such a professional approach. With Katinka, one can work more focused because she does not need to be taken after all the time, she can solve 90% of tasks alone. In case of my previous swimmers, I paid attention to their meal and relaxation as well, but with Katinka we do not always hang on each other. We put together a schedule for the competition, when and what to do, when to jump into water and she knows exactly how to implement it.’
Other swimmer of Iron Swim, Dániel Dudás caught a virus before Doha and he had to withdraw from some events.
‘I was very sorry for him’ said the coach, ‘because we could not see how he endure the series load. Now he has 3-days rest, and we hope that he can get back to his Kazan-form afterwards, when he claimed his first World Cup medals. I was glad to see his high spirit he competed with, he was very motivated. I can only recommend this kind of attitude to all swimmers.’
Stops of World Cup series are always a special atmosphere, since there is no such pressure on competitors as in world or European championships. The swimmers come here because they love competing.
‘It is true that swimmers are not in the stress zone that could paralyze them, but do not think that this is a kind of party. The races are hard fights and some of the participants such as Katinka or Sarah Sjöström swam better time than in Glasgow for example. In the Hungarian team atmosphere was excellent, mostly due to the relay. The four swimmers made an impression of a real team, they supported and watched the others except for when they competed against each other. World Cup, by the way, brings together the international field as well, one can feel being in a big family.’
Next stop will be in Eindhoven at the end of September, then it continues in Budapest at the beginning of October. Let’s prepare for it!