Katinka Hosszu, aka “The Iron Lady,” announced in a press conference today that she is extending and expanding the collaboration between her “Iron Lady” branding and the Arena swimsuit company. The agreement will last for at least another four years. The expanded line will include “Iron Lady” branded racing suits, and Hosszu said she’s looking forward to wearing her own racing suit at this month’s World Championships in Budapest.
Hosszu is one of only a few swimmers who have their own swimsuit brand. Most notably, Michael Phelps, now retired, launched the “MP” brand with Aquasphere a few years ago and wore “MP” branded swimsuits in Rio, while Missy Franklin has a “Signature Series” line with Speedo.
During the 25 press conference, which was broadcast via Facebook live, Hosszu answered questions about a wide variety of topics. She said she feels good about her preparation heading into Budapest and doesn’t feel any pressure, partially because she now doesn’t “feel afraid to fail.” She also discussed the pros and cons that come with racing in front of a “home crowd” in Budapest, and said that she wasn’t quite ready to announce her event lineup yet, but would soon.
Hosszu did not touch much on the big news from the other day, the formation of a pro swimming union. In response to one question during the Q&A session, Hosszu said that there some Hungarian swimmers who did not initially join the union, but perhaps would after the World Championships. Hosszu also explained that she was approached by other swimmers to form a union after her open letter, and that the GAPS differs from other attempts to unionize swimmers because it was really started by swimmers, in contrast to other unions.
