Katinka Hosszu’s Boyfriend Máté Gelencsér Added to Hungarian Staff for Euros

While Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu has said that she will be coaching herself to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after a departure from coach Árpád Petrov announced last week, she won’t be going it fully alone over the next 8 months.

That was evidenced on Monday by Hungarian media reports that her boyfriend Máté Gelencsér has been accredited as a member of the team staff for this weekend’s European Short Course Swimming Championships in Glasgow.

Correction: the original version of this report said that he was accredited as a “coach,” when in fact he’s just been credentialed as a member of the “team staff.”

Gelencsér, while not having any known experience as a coach himself, is the son of András Gelencsér, who is the coach of the Kópé Swimming School in Szentendre, Hungary.

In her statement last week, Hosszu alluded to the fact that, while she would be ‘coaching’ herself, she would rely on ‘colleagues’ to time her and keep a stop watch during her training.

Hosszu said that she made the decision to separate from her coach based on a “feeling” that she couldn’t shake since the World Championships that she didn’t feel that Petrov wanted to win as much as Hosszu did. “In the run-up to the Olympic Games, I can’t take the burden of carrying someone on my back again,” Hosszu remarked.

Hosszu began training with Petrov in the summer of 2018. That move came after a period spent training with USC head coach Dave Salo in the early part of the year when she began competing again after a very public breakup with coach, and now ex-husband, Shane Tusup.

Hosszu previously swam under Salo during her four years as a student at USC, where she ended her decorated NCAA career in 2012. After a relatively disappointing 2012 Olympic campaign, she enlisted then-boyfriend and future husband Shane Tusup as her coach. While she had immense success under Tusup, the two announced in December of 2017 that their relationship had hit a “difficult time,” which led to them attending a major Hungarian awards ceremony separately, and Tusup saying that he would “work to change.”

However, in May of 2018, the pair announced they were splitting personally and professionally, necessitating the coaching changes.

Hosszu won 3 individual gold and 1 individual silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. This summer, at the World Championships, she won gold in both the 200 IM and 400 IM. She also scratched the 200 back, finished 17th in prelims of the 200 free to miss advancing, and finished 8th in the 100 backstroke.

 

In This Story

53
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

53 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Corn Pop
5 years ago

The most mportant detail omitted . How old is he ?

FSt
Reply to  Corn Pop
5 years ago

Why is that important?

Corn Pop
Reply to  FSt
5 years ago

If he had to get a note from his mum , you would think it was important . As Octopus answered 33 its not very interesting .

Octopus
Reply to  Corn Pop
5 years ago

33 years, he swam at one time, his father is a swimming coach, as far as I read

marklewis
5 years ago

Katinka is kind of a swimming diva. She’ll do what she thinks will produce a winning performance.

Sounds like she’s chosen to enlist her boyfriend to watch her train and give her splits and times. She’s training for her 5th Olympics, so at this point, she does know what she needs to prepare.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  marklewis
5 years ago

She’s frickin’ remarketing and rebranding. The guy’s a model. It’s like a trophy wife. Good for her. She’s smart as hell.

Sccoach
5 years ago

Dang this article got Yozhik really excited

Yozhik
Reply to  Sccoach
5 years ago

First of all it is a great opportunity to talk to my readers at SwimSwam.
Of course I’m getting excited, because of that. Can’t wait for Mr. Riez find a new bright descriptive phrase to express the level of his excitement after reading my posts. He never repeats himself. I’m keeping records of all of them. Quite a collection, I’ll tell you. If it isn’t a property of SwimSwam I’ll publish it someday.
Secondly, it looks like there is nothing to talk about this SC European Championships, but Hosszu: what she swims – what she doesn’t swim; who she slips with – who she doesn’t; is she dominant in relationships with man partner(coach) or she isn’t; is she… Read more »

Yozhik
5 years ago

I heard people call Hosszu sometimes a great IMer but never looked in the dictionary what the word “medley” actually means.

medley
[ˈmedlē]
NOUN
a varied mixture of people or things.
“an interesting medley of flavors”

Yozhik
Reply to  Yozhik
5 years ago

Really? Never thought this way. Thank you. I got an impression that it is about number of coaches she was under. Four already? Like number of different strokes. Is it a coincidence? But since SC individual medley event is actually about 5 strokes then we have to anticipate the change of her entourage pretty soon.

Stall changing
5 years ago

I think my mom who can’t swim could coach Katinka and she’d still won Olympic gold in 2020

Yozhik
Reply to  Stall changing
5 years ago

No way. As she said she needs someone who wants her to win as much as she does. Someone who will support and encourage her tirelessly day and night. 😀

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Yozhik
5 years ago

Wrong. Stall Changing’s Mom is a vicious competitor, who wants to win at all costs.

sven
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
5 years ago

I swam for Stall Changing’s mom in the 90s. I can’t say if she’s a genius or a maniac, but she has the most ferocious bloodlust for victory that I have ever seen.

Drama King
5 years ago

Seems to be Tusup is correct 😴

Marley09
5 years ago

Even odds that Máté Gelencsér becomes European swim coach of the year by 2022. First step already accomplished by securing a deck pass for Euros and figuring out how to use a fancy stopwatch. Next year the ubiquotos Katinka themed tattoo. I’m sure he’s already handy at editing/posting her Insta gym photos.

Eugene
5 years ago

Katinka – Shane
2:1

Mr Piano
Reply to  Eugene
5 years ago

Lol Shane literally just lost another of his best swimmers like a month ago

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

Read More »