Hungarian Katinka Hosszu has broken her 2nd World Record in as many days at the first stop of the 2014 FINA World Cup Series in Doha, Qatar. On Thursday morning, in prelims, she swam a 57.25 in the 100 IM, which broke her own World Record of 57.45 done at the Berlin Grand Prix last year on August 11th, 2013.
That swim for Hosszu pairs with the 200 IM she did on Wednesday, as she continues to show off her ever-improving versatility. While the number of World Records she holds hasn’t actually grown, the number of times she’s broken those records has.
The difference in the record came almost entirely on the front-half, and while no 25 meter splits were available, from what we’ve seen this week the backstroke is the likely culprit. Of the .2 second drop from the World Record, .19 of it was from the first 50 meters.
Hosszu was well out in front of the field, with the second-fastest being American Caitlin Leverenz in 1:00.74. Jamaican Alia Atkinson, who was the mostly likely to challenge Hosszu for gold in this race, declared a false start in the event.
Hosszu now has the four fastest times in the history of this event. 2nd-ranked on the all-time list is Australian Alicia Coutts in 57.53.
The old World Record was also the old World Cup Record.
Incredible how many races she can handle. Tonight she’s scheduled to swim the 400 IM, 100 back, 200 fly, 400 free, 100 IM, and 50 fly. She pulled out of the 100 free despite qualifying first this morning.
Further evidence to argue Hosszu as the Greatest Short Course Swimmer ever. And when I said short course, I didn’t mean yards.