After a legendary career that included five appearances at the Olympics, four Olympic medals and a combined 26 world championship titles, Katinka Hosszu has officially announced her retirement from competitive swimming.
The 35-year-old Hungarian announced her decision on Instagram Wednesday.
Translated Text:
Announcing My Retirement
Thank you to everyone who was a part of it
For thirty years, the water has been my home, a sanctuary where I have found solace and strength. From the moment I first stepped foot in the pool as a child, I knew I had discovered something magical. The cool embrace of the water was like coming home, a place where gravity ceased to exist and each stroke brought me closer to my dreams.As I progressed in my swimming career, I went from a curious child to one of the most accomplished female swimmers ever. Each race I won was not only a testament to my hard work and dedication, but also a reflection of the countless hours of training, the sacrifices I made, and the unwavering support of my family, coaches, and friends. I will never forget the thrill of the race—the adrenaline rush as I stood on the starting line, the world fading away, and only the sound of my heartbeat and the promise of the race remained.
Throughout my career, I have learned valuable lessons that extend far beyond the sport. Swimming has taught me about perseverance in the face of adversity, the importance of discipline, and the beauty of teamwork. I have made lifelong friendships, laughed and cried together, experienced the joy of victory and the lessons of defeat. Each race was a new chapter, an opportunity to push my limits and explore the depths of my potential.
Now, as I look back on my career, I feel a sense of immense fulfillment. Medals and records are precious, but what remains most deeply is my undying love for swimming. Even after I hung up my swimsuit, the water still beckons. I still find so much joy in the stroke of my arm, the soft splashes, and the peaceful solitude I feel beneath the surface.
In the years to come, I hope to share this passion with others—teaching young swimmers the magic I found in the water and encouraging them to follow their dreams. To me, swimming is more than just a sport; it is a lifelong journey filled with love, growth, and the pursuit of excellence. As I dive into each new day, I carry with me the lessons I have learned and an eternal belief in the sport.
Hosszu most recently competed at the Sette Colli Trophy in late June, where she fell shy in her pursuit of a sixth Olympic berth in Paris. That ended her comeback after giving birth to her first child in August 2023.
The retirement announcement signals the end of one of the most dominant careers we’ve seen in the sport in the 21st century. Hosszu was the best female IMer in the world for an extended period throughout the 2010s, and also managed to win major international titles in backstroke and butterfly events throughout her career.
Nicknamed the “Iron Lady,” Hosszu was renowned for her tireless work ethic and ability to take on daunting event lineups while competing seemingly every week during the peak of her career.
Hosszu made her Olympic debut at the age of 15 in 2004, placing 31st in the women’s 200 freestyle, and then represented Hungary at the 2008 Olympics, placing as high as 12th in the 400 IM. Her international resume really took off beginning in 2009, winning the long course world title in the 400 IM and adding bronze medals in the 200 fly and 200 IM.
At the 2012 Olympics, Hosszu narrowly missed winning a medal in the 400 IM, placing 4th, and she also made the final of the 200 IM, placing 8th after adding more than three seconds from the semis.
Using her disappointment in London as a motivator, Hosszu’s career really took off after that.
She won her first two short course world titles in the 200 fly and 200 IM at the end of 2012, and then swept the IM events at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships, beginning an unparalleled streak of dominance in the discipline.
Hosszu won the women’s 200 and 400 IM at four straight World Championships from 2013 to 2019, with her most notable swim coming at the 2015 Worlds in Kazan, where she broke the super-suited world record in the 200 IM, clocking 2:06.12 to erase Ariana Kukors‘ mark of 2:06.15 from 2009. That record still stands today.
Four years after the disappointment in London, Hosszu redeemed herself at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, obliterating the field en route to gold on the opening night of racing in the women’s 400 IM, torching the world record held by China’s Ye Shiwen by more than two seconds in 4:26.36.
Hosszu went on to win two more gold medals in the 100 back and 200 IM, and added a silver medal in the 200 back.
In addition to her medley dominance at LC Worlds, she also won bronze in the 200 fly in 2013 and 2017, and silver in the 200 back in 2017 and bronze in 2015, to go along with her medals in 2009.
Outside of the Olympics and LC Worlds, Hosszu was wildly successful at Short Course Worlds and both the Long Course and Short Course European Championships.
She won 17 short course world titles over a span of four championship meets from 2012 to 2018, highlighted by winning seven gold medals at the 2016 edition in Windsor, Canada.
Hosszu also won 15 LC European titles, including winning five straight 200 IM gold medals from 2010 to 2018, and four world titles in the 400 IM in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2021.
With a total of 20 European titles won at the short course championships, including claiming six gold medals at back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2017, Hosszu was a European champion a combined 35 times in her career.
In addition to her success at major international meets, Hosszu also won the overall women’s FINA (now World Aquatics) World Cup title five straight times from 2012 until 2016. She’s won 305 individual events over the course of her World Cup career, more than double the next highest (Chad le Clos with 151).
After winning world titles in the 200 and 400 IM in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to mark the end of Hosszu’s dominant years in the sport, as she went from carrying a ton of momentum into 2020 for the Tokyo Olympics to having to wait a year and turning 32 before the postponed 2021 Games.
In Tokyo, Hosszu was a finalist in both medley events but finished outside the medals, taking 7th in the 200 IM and 5th in the 400 IM. She then raced on home soil in Budapest at the 2022 World Championships, finishing 7th in the 200 IM and 4th in the 400 IM, before taking her break from the sport to have her first child.
She was also the co-founder and team captain of Team Iron in the International Swimming League, competing in Season 1 (2019). and Season 2 (2020). During the league’s inaugural season, Hosszu won Match MVP honors on home soil in Budapest.
Despite Hosszu’s world record in the 400 IM (4:26.36) falling at the hands of Summer McIntosh in 2023 (4:25.87 – now 4:24.38), the Hungarian’s record in the 200 IM (2:06.12) still stands to this day.
In short course meters, she held the world record in the 200 IM up until last month, with Kate Douglass clocking 2:01.63 at Short Course Worlds to break Hosszu’s decade-old mark of 2:01.86 set in 2014.
In addition to ranking #2 all-time in the 200 IM, Hosszu retires ranking 3rd all-time in the 200 back (1:59.23) and 400 IM (4:19.46) and 5th in the 200 fly (2:01.12) in SCM.