Katinka Hosszu on Night 3 of the Mesa Grand Prix (Sponsored by VisitMesa.com). Recaps of both her races on the night from Braden Keith:
Women’s 200 Fly – Final
At both the 2011 and 2012 NCAA Championships, Katinka Hosszu took the NCAA titles in the 200 fly with Cammile Adams chasing. Hosszu is graduated for just over a year now, which left Adams to win last year’s NCAA Championship, and with another head-to-head opportunity, the script was flipped.
Adams took the race out very hard, turning in 1:02.63, and though she got a good push from Hosszu and 15-year old Katie McLaughlin, Adams still had enough to hang on for the win in 2:09.45.
Hosszu and Adams are two of the most back-half-leaning swimmers in the world in this race, and Hosszu actually made up ground on Adams in that last 50, though the two were easily better than anyone else. That includes Hosszu running down McLaughlin in the final 15 or so meters of the race for 2nd. McLaughlin was 3rd in 2:10.86; that’s about half-a-second off of the Mission Viejo swimmer’s lifetime best, but still only three women in the last decade have been faster at this age.
Cal’s Caitlin Leverenz was 4th in 2:13.49. This is a race that the IM’er really made huge improvements in after NCAA’s last year, not so much with any intent on trying to swim it at Worlds but as a training event for her IM races.
Michelle Cefal was 5th in 2:14.92, and Sonia Wang was 6th in 2:16.17.
Women’s 200 IM – Final
Hungarian Katinka Hosszu has had a great meet, and in this, the last race of 8 (she ended up scratching the 800 free), she may have had her best. She had a great breaststroke leg, to match that of former training partner Stina Gardell, and won in 2:12.68. That’s the fastest that she’s been this early in a long course season in her career (which makes sense because it’s her first chance at not coming right off of NCAA’s).
Hosszu will finish the meet with four runner-up finishes, two victories, a 6th-place finish, and an 8th place finish.
Gardell finished 2nd in 2:13.81, and Caitlin Leverenz was 3rd in 2:13.90. Leverenz had a typically-great breaststroke leg to get back into this race, but couldn’t hold that position on the freestyle leg.
Missy Franklin placed 4th in 2:16.29, and Liz Pelton was 5th in 2:16.68.
Karlee Bispo of Longhorn Aquatics won the B-Final in 2:16.91, pulling away from Alia Atkinson(2:16.91). Bispo looked very smooth on the closing freestyle leg next to Atkinson’s relatively labored freestyle stroke coming home. After a 2:12 at the Austin Grand Prix earlier this year, Bispo should at least final at Nationals this summer, and could challenge for a spot in Barcelona in the 200 IM.
Katinka is on another level.. I adore her!