Swimming: I'm not thinking about the medals! – Katinka Hosszú

"These medals are so beautiful, and here's the whole collection: I call this gold, silver, and bronze a rainbow," Katinka Hosszú said spontaneously. She won the 400 medley, finished 2^nd in 200 butterfly, and won a bronze medal in 200 medley at the European Championships in Budapest.

–Let's leave the 200 butterfly behind since Hungarian Boglárka Kapás finished before you, but the 200 medley produced a surprising result. We're not used to Katinka Hosszú finishing third.
–But it wasn't the European Championships that was about competing in the best shape and where the slogan is: let's do it! It was something else entirely, and I also thought that "I'm going to go out there and finally I can see where I'm at during a race. Despite the time behind us, the race ended better than I had hoped. If you had asked me a month ago what I expected of myself at the European Championships, I would've replied a little awkwardly and vaguely that we would see.

–Did it ever go through your mind before the European Championships that you wouldn't win a single medal in the Duna Aréna?
–Oh, my God... I'm not thinking about the medals. I swam well in both the 400 and 200 medleys, and I know now what I need to work on over the next few weeks. That's why this European Championship was good because it was a larger-scale race where I had to stand up, where I had to fight, and in my swimming, every deficiency came out – but that's fine. It's become clear what I need to look out for in the period until the Olympics.

–If you look at your deficiency, what do you need to work on?
–The list could go on, but I also know what I need to focus on in order for the rest to improve as well. It's no secret that I don't have my usual speed. I don't have that explosiveness because of the lack of competitions. That's why I need to race because only then can I move forward, and hopefully, that's how I can get faster and faster.

–Can you only accelerate in competitions, or are there other specific training methods for it?
–There are, of course. The fact that I'm not fast, or explosive enough at this time of year, is not that bad.

–I'm working on it, so these two months will be enough for me to compete in my best shape in Tokyo.

–Before the European Championships in Budapest, the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju was the last big competition – how was that Katina different from the one who's focusing on Tokyo? Adding that everything was fine at that time and that Katinka could compete as much as she wanted and could.
–... you've just explained how and in what ways that Katinka was different. There's no other difference.

–Time also passes for you just as much as for anyone else.
–Of course, it was different to race at the World Championships in Rome in 2009 and another 10 years later in South Korea. Times change, I change, I'm more relaxed and more thoughtful than I was a few years ago.

–It must be difficult to be among the world's bests at 32.
–Age is just a number. It doesn't really matter how old someone is.

–Isn't it weird that 15-16-year-olds run around you?
–Not at all. I also started competing among the adults when I was about their age.

–The three-step Mare Nostrum Tour begins this weekend. Are you going to participate in all three of them?
–Yes.

–What events are you competing in?
–It's only after the series that I decide which distances I'll swim at the Olympics.

–Can we conclude anything from the events you swam in at the Mare Nostrum series?
–I'm going to swim in a lot of events during the three steps, but not in all of them. I'm going to focus on quality swimming and compete in the three or four events that I might do at the Olympics, too.

–No good news is coming from Japan. Are you afraid there won't be Olympics?
–It's so interesting that everybody's afraid of something – but why, what's there to be afraid of? The decision not to have an Olympics is not up to me. In the next few weeks, I will only control the progress and events that affect me and that I have control over.

Translated by Orosz Vanda.