Éva Gérard-Novák

At the age of 10 Éva Gérard-Novák was already an excellent swimmer and went to competitions where her role model was Ferenc Csík. From 1942 Novák was a swimmer for the Hungarian Swimming Association, and later for the Ferencvárosi TC. She was also on the Hungarian national team from 1947 to 1953. At the 1948 London Olympics she won bronze in the 200 metres breaststroke. The result was influenced by the fact that hse had follicular tonsillitis in London. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics she was a member of the 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay team and won silver in both the 200 metres breaststroke and the 400 metres freestyle. In 1950 she became the first Hungarian female swimmer to set a world record.

Novák secretly married Belgian sports journalist Pierre Gerard in Helsinki during the Olympics. After returning to Hungary on the Olympic gold train, she asked the Hungarian sports and politic leaders for help to join her husband in Bruxelles. She later managed to get out with great difficulty, and there she completed her studies and obtained a medical degree. Novák then worked as an eye surgeon in the Belgian capital, but also continued her sports career, winning several Belgian championship titles, before representing Belgium at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Novák ended her active sports career in 1958. In 1973 she became a member of the Swimming Hall of Fame together with her sister Ilona.