Hungarian Olympic champion Éva Székely

Hungarian swimmer Éva Székely was an Olympic gold medallist who survived the Holocaust and lived through the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

Who was Éva Székely?

Born in Budapest in April 1927, Székely was a swimmer from a young age. Seeing fellow Hungarian Ferenc Csik win the 100m freestyle race at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin made her determined to swim competitively.

Éva Székely's life during World War II

In her youth, she was a member of a local swim team. During World War II, in 1941, she was expelled from the team because she was Jewish, as well as being excluded from competitions until the war ended. 

Székely was very nearly killed during a roundup of Jewish people in Budapest in winter 1944.

In the video, she explains how, when threatened by a young Nazi, she was spared her at the last minute due to her father's quick thinking by saying that she was the Hungarian swimming champion.

After the war, her swimming career resumed and she went from strength to strength, winning gold medals in multiple races at the Hungarian swimming championships every year from 1945 to 1956. She set many national records in this time, as well as six world records.

She competed in the 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, winning gold in the 200 metre breaststroke.

After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

She returned to the Olympic Games four years later in Melbourne. During these 1956 Olympics, the Hungarian revolution broke out while they were away. Székely’s daughter was still in Hungary - despite her worries and concerns, she still competed and won silver in the 200 metre breaststroke.

The following year, in 1957, Székely - along with her husband and daughter - defected to the United States.

They later returned to Hungary to care for her parents. Székely’s husband Dezső Gyarmati was a waterpolo player - after their return, the authorities only allowed one of the couple to go to the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Her husband competed, with Székely retiring from competitive swimming that year.

Afterwards, Székely worked as a pharmacist and swimming coach. Amongst others, she trained her daughter Andrea Gyarmati who won two medals at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

She was named as an 'Athlete of the Nation' in Hungary in 2004, and was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

In later life, Székely spoke openly, with courage and determination, of her experiences during World War II as a Jewish athlete. Éva Székely died in Budapest in February 2020, aged 92.

This blog is part of the Europeana Sport project which showcases cultural treasures relating to sporting heritage in Europe.