Hosszu ends marathon week with another win

Hungary's "Iron Lady" proves herself a major threat no matter what the

event with a seventh title at the Mare Nostrum series, while Russian Efimova goes unbeaten in nine breaststroke finals.

2 minBy Paul Rhys
GettyImages-1175571694 (1)

(2019 Getty Images)

Katinka Hosszu's seventh victory in the pool wrapped up her astonishing schedule at the Mare Nostrum series, as the Hungarian's unrelenting efforts were matched only by a clean sweep from Russia's Yuliya Efimova.

Efimova had a perfect record with 9 wins out of 9 breaststroke races as the final leg in Barcelona finished on Sunday.

Hosszu's seven victories in Monaco, Canet and now Barcelona were enough to rubber-stamp her status as one of the world's most versatile swimmer heading into Tokyo 2020.

Elsewhere, Hosszu's Tokyo 2020 teammate Kristof Milak kept up his form with victory in the men's 100m freestyle, having bested South African Chad le Clos in the 100m butterfly the day before.

Electric Efimova

Efimova laid down the first marker of the day, with a time of 30.28 in the 50m breaststroke. Three-time Olympic champion Hosszu then notched 4:40.34 in the 400m individual medley for win number seven in the series.

The three venues had seen Efimova unbeaten in eight races as she went into the 200m breaststroke. And the 29-year-old completed a nerveless ninth with victory in 2:21.86.

Hosszu could only finish sixth in the women's 200m freestyle, won by Barbora Seemanova of the Czech Republic, but the she had already laid out a marker for her rivals as the Olympics approach.

Happy end for le Clos

Le Clos, meanwhile, could finish only fifth in the 50m butterfly as world record holder Andriy Govorov of Ukraine tied for gold with Dutchman Thom de Boer.

But the London 2012 Olympic champion was merely warming up, capping the week with his best time of the season – 1:55.63 to win his trademark event, the 200m butterfly.

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