György Erdélyi

In 1934, at the age of 11, György Erdélyi appeared as one of the greatest swimming talents of Eger of all time. He swam excellently in both backstroke and freestyle, and already at the age of 13 he was a participant in the Berlin Olympics. In 1938, as a 15-year-old competitor of Egri MOVE, he won the national championship in the 100 metres backstroke with a time close to the European record, and took part in the European Championships in London. In 1942, he continued his sports career in the colors of the Ludovika Military Academy.

However, due to the Soviet army approaching Hungary, the courses at the Ludovika Academy had to be shortened and Erdélyi was assigned to an artillery regiment, at the rank of lieutenant, where he was responsible for radar equipment. At the end of the war, he became an American prisoner of war, from which he managed to escape and flee to Austria, where he initially worked as a truck driver.

In the late 1940s, he occasionally competed in swimming competitions in Austria and Switzerland, then in the early 1950s he moved to Camogli, Italy, where he played water polo for the Rari Nantes Camogli team. As the team’s player-coach, he won the Italian championship in 1952 and 1953. In the same place, he founded Italy’s first women’s water polo team.