Katinka Hosszú

Katinka Hosszú (born May 3, 1989 in Pécs, Baranya) is a female Hungarian swimmer, who twice competed for her native country at the Summer Olympics: 2004 and 2008.

Swimming career

She won her first medal at 2004 European Short Course Championshops, a bronze in 400 m medley.
At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships she won two bronze medals in 200 m medley and 200 m butterfly, before becoming World Champion in 400 m medley. She was elected Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year for her achievements.

At the 2010 European Aquatics Championships held in her homecountry, she won a silver medal in 400 m medley and became European Champion in 200 m butterfly, 200 m medley and with the 4x200 m freestyle relay team.

It's that time of year again. NCAA Championship season. The women's meet runs March 17-19 in Austin, while the men take to the pool March 24-26 in Minneapolis. We are going to see two weeks of fierce competition and amazing races, but in each meet, one team will emerge the better. Of course, we won't know which one until possibly the last relay. Last year, everyone thought Stanford or Georgia would walk away with the title until Florida swept ahead and won a 2.5 point victory, with Cal and Arizona both right in the mix for the title as well. Expect this women's meet to be just as tight, and do not expect any of your predictions going in to be correct.

It's also time for one of my favorite activities in swimming: Fantasy Swimming. On Podium Pursuit, I dominated the World Cup competition, but finished second by eight points at Short Course Worlds after I forgot to predict the last day. I hope to reclaim the top spot with this meet. I base my predictions off season-best times and prior experience. I admit there might be some pro-USA bias, as there so often is in my picks. I pick the top three spots in each event, plus a "darkhorse." A darkhorse is a swimmer seeded outside the top-eight but one that could make an impact. Sometimes, there are perfect darkhorses like Felicia Lee (100 fly) or Micah Lawrence (100/200 breast), but sometimes the darkhorses are less obvious. Note that, for the purposes of Podium Pursuit, these predictions are subject to change on a day-by-day basis.

Without further ado, here goes:
Thursday, March 17:
200 Medley Relay
1. Stanford
2. Cal
3. Auburn

500 Free
1. Allison Schmitt, Georgia
2. Wendy Trott, Georgia
3. Elizabeth Beisel, Florida
Darkhorse – Chelsea Nauta, Georgia

200 IM
1. Katinka Hosszu, USC
2. Caitlin Leverenz, Cal
3. Morgan Scroggy, Georgia
Darkhorse – Claire Crippen, Virginia

50 Free
1. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Auburn
2. Liv Jensen, Cal
3. Margo Geer, Arizona
Darkhorse – Sam Woodward, Stanford

400 Medley Relay
1. Cal
2. USC
3. Wisconsin