USC’s Katinka Hosszu named swimmer of meet at NCAA championships

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USC’s Katinka Hosszu completed a successful weekend on Saturday, winning a third event and being selected swimmer of the meet at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Austin, Texas.

The junior from Hungary won the 200-yard butterfly in 1 minute 51.69 seconds, becoming the first USC woman to win the event.

Hosszu also won the 200-yard individual medley on Thursday and the 400-yard individual medley on Friday. She is the first USC swimmer to win three events since Kristine Quance in 1994 and 1996.

Hosszu, who competed for Hungary in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, also swam several relays for USC, which finished with 351 points, third behind champion California (424 points) and Georgia (394.5). It was USC’s first top-three finish since 2003 when the Trojans also placed third.

Hosszu, 21, said during a phone interview that she was happy to help the Trojans improve from their seventh-place finish in 2010.

“I am really proud of our team,” she said. “Hopefully, we can finish even higher next year.”

Hosszu won the 200 medley in a pool-record 1:53.39. “The event is kind of, for me, a sprint event,” she said. “I was seeded first and so I tried very hard to keep that position.”

She won the 400 medley in 3:59.75.

“That’s definitely my favorite race,” she said. “I’ve been really close to four minutes, so I’m really happy about that.”

The 200 butterfly?

“I feel like it’s a little easier -- just one stroke,” she said, laughing.

Hosszu said she would take a week to recuperate and then begin preparing for the long-course season and the world championships that will be held in July in China.

Hosszu was one of eight USC swimmers who earned All-America recognition, a USC official said. The others: Haley Anderson (500 free, 1,650 free, 800 free); Presley Bard (100 back, 200 back, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay); Kasey Carlson (50 free, 100 breast, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay); Lyndsay DePaul (100 fly, 200 fly, 200 individual medley, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay); Stina Gardell (800 free relay); Christel Simms (200 medley relay) and Amanda Smith (800 free relay).

--Gary Klein