Katalin Szőke

Katalin Szőke (17 August 1935 – 27 October 2017) was a Hungarian swimmer. She competed at the 1952 Olympics and won two gold medals, in the 100 m and 4 × 100 m freestyle events. Two years later she repeated that success at the 1954 European Championships. She also competed in these two events at the 1956 Olympics but without success. During her career Szőke set four world records.[1] In 1985 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.[2][3]

The native form of this personal name is Szőke Katalin. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Katalin Szőke
Katalin Szőke in 1952
Personal information
Full nameKatalin Szőke-Markovits
Nationality Hungary
Born(1935-08-17)17 August 1935
Budapest, Hungary
Died27 October 2017(2017-10-27) (aged 82)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubBudapesti Kinizsi
CoachImre Sarosi, Steffen Hunyadfi
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  Hungary
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1952 Helsinki 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1952 Helsinki 4×100 m freestyle
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1954 Turin 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1954 Turin 4×100 m freestyle

Biography

Szőke was born in Budapest to Márton Homonnai, an Olympic champion in water polo in 1932 and 1936. During World War II, her father was a policeman and a member of the Arrow Cross Party, which supported the Nazis. After the war, fearing prosecution (he was sentenced to death in absentia), he flew via Germany and Brazil to Argentina, where he died in 1969.[4] Meanwhile, his daughter remained in Hungary and took her mother's name to hide relationship with her father. In 1956, due to the Soviet intervention in Hungary, she immigrated to the United States. She married an Olympic water polo player Kálmán Markovits, but later divorced him and married his teammate, Árpád Domján. They settled in Los Angeles, where she worked at a bank and did some modelling, while her husband built a successful career in developing office buildings and living apartments. They both adopted a last name of Domyan, and raised a son, Bryan Domyan, who became a basketball player.[1]

See also

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Katalin Szőke". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  2. "Katalin Szoke (HUN) – 1985 Honor Swimmer". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
  3. "Gyász: elhunyt Szőke Kató, Helsinki kétszeres olimpiai bajnoka". nemzetisport.hu (in Hungarian).
  4. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Márton Homonnai". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
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