Katie Hoff

Katie Hoff
Personal information
Full name Kathryn Elise Hoff
National team  United States
Born (1989-06-03) June 3, 1989
Palo Alto, California
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight 141 lb (64 kg)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle, individual medley
Club North Baltimore Aquatic Club, FAST Aquatics, T2 Aquatics

Kathryn Elise Hoff (born June 3, 1989) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Though Hoff was known for her success in the 200- and 400-meter individual medley, she was a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200-meter events to the 800-meter freestyle. She represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics, in which she captured a silver and two bronze medals.

Competitive career

2004–2005

Hoff qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics at the age of 15; she failed to medal in both of the events in which she competed.

At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships, Hoff set a championships record for her time of 2:10.41 in the women's 200 m individual medley.[1] Hoff received two more gold medals at the competition, one in the 400-meter medley and the other for the 4×200-meter freestyle, with teammates Natalie Coughlin, Whitney Myers, and Kaitlin Sandeno.

2007 World Aquatics Championships

Hoff retained her 200-meter individual medley title by winning at the 2007 World Championships setting a new championship record of 2:10.13.[2] Hoff's previous experience helped her use her "veteran" status to help the most experienced member of the U.S. team, Natalie Coughlin, prepare for their world-record-setting pace in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay.[3]

2008 Summer Olympic Games

Heading into the 2008 Olympics, Hoff was considered a strong contender. Hoff held the American record in the 200-meter individual medley at 2:09.71 and set the world record in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:31.12 set at the 2008 U.S. swim trials. (This time was subsequently bettered by Stephanie Rice in the Olympic finals with a time of 4:29.45).

Hoff's performances in Beijing produced a decidedly mixed record. NBC commentator and former-Olympian Rowdy Gaines described her results as disappointing (this included finishing second to Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington in the 400-meter freestyle), yet noted that her three medals at one Olympics is a significant achievement and cited the depth of the field in each of her events. Prior to the Olympic Games, Hoff was saddled by the media with the label "the female Michael Phelps" due to the challenging slate of races in which she was competing. Bob Bowman, Phelps' coach, thought the comparison was unfair.

Hoff set the American record in the 200-meter freestyle, yet finished fourth in the event; 70 minutes later in the finals of the 200-meter individual medley Hoff again finished fourth, well behind her time at the U.S. swim trials. These results led to questions as to whether Hoff's program in Beijing was too aggressive. It was also suggested that Hoff's narrow miss of a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle created a confidence issue that affected her later races.[4] Following her consecutive fourth-place finishes, Hoff's coach, Paul Yetter, held that she was having a good meet and denied she had peaked too early. Yetter also predicted that Hoff could have an "awesome" 800-meter freestyle race to conclude her second Olympic games.[5] However, Hoff dramatically faded over the second half of her preliminary race, finishing in 8:27.78, 8.08 seconds off her personal best time, and failed to advance.[6]

2009

After taking some time off after the 2008 Olympics Hoff did not qualify for the 2009 World Aquatics Championships after an 8th-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle and a 6th-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle at the U.S. National Championships. Hoff subsequently withdrew from the 100- and 800-meter freestyle races, ending her chances of making the team.[7]

2011 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, China, Hoff won a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Missy Franklin, Dagny Knutson, and Allison Schmitt, with the team finishing ahead of Australia and China. As the third leg, Hoff had a 1:57.41 split.

2012

At the 2012 Olympic Trials, Hoff failed to qualify for her third Olympics, finishing 20th in the preliminary runs in the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle and 13th in the 800-meter freestyle.

2013

Beginning in 2013, Hoff took a brief hiatus from competitive swimming focus on her studies, enrolling at the University of Miami as a full-time student.[8] Hoff competed in her first meet since the 2012 Olympic Trials on November 23–24.[9]

2014

In April 2014, Hoff made a comeback at the Mesa Arena Pro Series. At Nationals in Irvine, California, she was forced to withdraw due to health problems. In October it was found that she had blood clots in her lungs, which took her several months to recover from.[10]

2015

On December 14, 2015, Hoff officially announced her retirement from swimming due to continuing health issues related to scar tissue from blood clots in her lungs.[11]

Personal life

Hoff was born in Palo Alto, California and lived for a number of years in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she swam as a youngster with the Williamsburg Aquatic Club, coached by Harold Baker. She also swam summer neighborhood meets with the Windsor Forest Frogs, where several of her team records, circa 2000 and 2001 still stand. She moved with her family to Towson, Maryland in 2003, in part so she could practice with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, also the home team of Michael Phelps.[12] In 2008, she purchased a condominium in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Baltimore.[12] Her mother, Jeanne Ruark Hoff, played basketball for Stanford University from 1979 to 1983.[13] Hoff's father, John, is a salesman. Both Hoff and her younger brother, Christian, were home schooled.[12] Hoff is currently training with T2 Aquatics in Naples, Florida.

Major achievements

International events

Year Meet Venue Distance Event Result
2004 2004 Olympics Athens, Greece 200 m Individual medley 7th
2004 Olympics Athens, Greece 400 m Individual medley 17th
2005 World Championships (LC) Montreal, Canada 200 m Individual medley 1st
World Championships Montreal, Canana 400 m Individual medley 1st
2006 Pan Pacific Championships Victoria, Canada 200 m Freestyle 1st
Pan Pacific Championships Victoria, Canada 400 m Freestyle 2nd
Pan Pacific Championships Victoria, Canada 200 m Individual medley 2nd
Pan Pacific Championships Victoria, Canada 400 m Individual medley 1st
2007 World Championships (LC) Melbourne, Australia 200 m Individual medley 1st
World Championships Melbourne, Australia 400 m Individual medley 1st WR
World Championships Melbourne, Australia 4 × 200 m Free relay 1st WR
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 200 m Freestyle 4th
Olympic Games Beijing, China 400 m Freestyle 2nd
Olympic Games Beijing, China 200 m Individual medley 4th
Olympic Games Beijing, China 400 m Individual medley 3rd
Olympic Games Beijing, China 4 × 200 m Free relay 3rd

U.S. National Achievements

Year Meet Distance Event Result
2003 US Open 200 m Individual medley 2nd
US Open 400 m Individual medley 2nd
2004 Spring Nationals 200 m Individual medley 3rd
Spring Nationals 400 m Individual medley 1st
2005 US Open 200 m Freestyle 1st
US Open 100 m Butterfly 1st
US Open 200 m Butterfly 1st
US Open 200 m Individual medley 1st
2006 US Open 800 m Freestyle 1st
US Open 200 m Individual medley 1st
US Open 400 m Individual medley 1st
Summer Nationals 200 m Freestyle 2nd
Summer Nationals 400 m Freestyle 2nd
Summer Nationals 200 m Individual medley 1st
Summer Nationals 400 m Individual medley 1st
Spring Championships 50 m Freestyle 3rd
Spring Championships 100 m Freestyle 1st
Spring Championships 400 m Freestyle 1st
Spring Championships 200 m Butterfly 2nd
Spring Championships 200 m Individual medley 1st
Spring Championships 400 m Individual medley 1st

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Montreal 2005 Results". Archived from the original on January 28, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  2. ↑ "12th FINA World Championships". Archived from the original on June 6, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  3. ↑ U.S. women set record in 4 × 200 – baltimoresun.com Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Hoff's fortunes determined by hundreds of a second". Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Hoff's load too heavy?". Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Hoff, Ziegler eliminated in 800-meter freestyle preliminaries". Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Hoff fails to qualify for world swim championships". July 10, 2009.
  8. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140222212406/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/USA/33051.asp?q=Katie-Hoff-Taking-Brief-Hiatus-From-Pool-to-Become-Full-Time-Student. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2013/11/25/katie-hoff-returns-swimming/
  10. ↑ "The Many Seasons of Katie Hoff". Swimming World Magazine. May 11, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  11. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick. "Katie Hoff retires from swimming". OlympicTalk. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Candus Thomson (August 8, 2008). "Baltimore's other champ". The Baltimore Sun. pp. 1A, 6A.
  13. ↑ Crouse, Karen (July 13, 2006). "Seeking a Path Back to the Top". The New York Times]. Retrieved April 10, 2008.
Records
Preceded by
Yana Klochkova		 Women's 400-meter individual medley
world record-holder (long course)
April 1, 2007 – March 22, 2008		 Succeeded by
Stephanie Rice
Preceded by
Stephanie Rice		 Women's 400-meter individual medley
world record-holder (long course)
June 29, 2008 – August 10, 2008		 Succeeded by
Stephanie Rice
Awards
Preceded by
Amanda Beard		 Swimming World
American Swimmer of the Year
2005–2007		 Succeeded by
Natalie Coughlin
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