Katinka Hosszu Cracks 200 Back National Record Again In Semi-Finals

2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES

• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Swimming: August 6-13
• Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
• Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
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Continuing her magical week in the pool, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu broke another record, this time the 200 back national record, on the way to the spot in the semi-finals.

Hosszu clocked 2:06.03, breaking her record of 2:06.09 which was just newly minted this morning. That swim broke her previous record of 2:06.18 from last year’s World Championship semi-finals. She ultimately won bronze.

Hosszu is firing on all cylinders, as she’s already claimed individual gold medals in the 100 back, 200 IM and 400 IM here in Rio. The 400 IM was a world record, and the 100 back was also a Hungarian record.

The Hungarian was among the favorites coming into the meet in this race, but now she has become the overwhelming favorite for gold. She leads all qualifiers for the final by over a second, with Canada’s Hilary Caldwell the #2 seed at 2:07.17.

Surprisingly, last year’s World Champion Emily Seebohm missed the final, finishing 12th in the semis. The same is the case for 2012 Olympic champ and 2015 runner-up Missy Franklin, who was a distant 14th.

Hosszu will now seek her fourth individual Olympic gold medal, which would tie her with East Germany’s Kristin Otto (convicted of doping far after she competed) for the most individual gold medals by a female swimmer.