The Iron Lady

After the London Games, she retreated to Hungary before returning briefly to the University of Southern California, where she had trained in the leadup to the Olympics. Over the next several months, she buried her old self and hatched the competitor who became known as the Iron Lady. With input from the United States-born Tusup, Hosszu increased the degree of difficulty of her competitive programs.

Her reasoning was that the more events she swam in a day, the less pressure she would put on herself to be the best in any of them. Tusup’s logic was that Hosszu, a newly minted professional, could double or triple her earning power by stacking her competitive program. His idea, which defied convention, was to train less and race more.

Three months after the London Olympics, Hosszu unveiled her eight-event program at a two-day World Cup meet, held in a 25-meter course in Beijing. She entered the 100-, 200- and 400-meter individual medleys; the 200 backstroke; the 200 butterfly; and the 200, 400 and 800 freestyles. She graced the podium five times, prompting members of the Chinese news media to ask her if she were made of iron.

“The Iron Lady” became a headline, Hosszu’s nickname and, in time, her alter ego.

When the diffident Hosszu dons her swimsuit and stuffs her schoolteacher’s hair bun into a latex racing cap, she turns into a superhero with reserves of stamina and confidence. The swimmer who felt overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed in London has since become the first athlete to surpass $1 million in World Cup series prize money for individual races and overall finishes and averaged more than 100 races a year.

She has accomplished all of this with her husband overseeing all the aspects of her preparation, to the unease of some in the tightknit swimming community. Tusup is more temperamental than Hosszu, and his eruptions on the pool deck have elicited stares, complaints and calls for his removal.

“I always say if you find a coach who can make you a step or two better, or if what we’re doing is not working and you think there’s something you need to change, you need to tell me because then I’ll step back, that coach will step in, and we’ll be happy,” Tusup said, adding, “She has that offer to this day.”