Alajos Szilassy

Starting from 1928 Alajos Szymiczek studied at the medical faculty of Pázmány Péter University. During this time, he got to know rowing and between 1932 and 1936, as a rower of Hungary, he was a five-time Hungarian champion andcompeted in four European Championships and one Olympics. He achieved his first major international success at the 1932 European Championships, when he won a silver medal as a member of the eights. The following year, at the 1933 European Championship, he finished in third place with the coxless fours. At the 1934 European Championships, the Hungarian eights won the gold medal. With the coxed fours he finished fifth at the European Championships in 1935 and also a year later at the Berlin Olympics. In accordance with the customs of the time, he competed in the Olympics under the Magyar name Szilassy.

In the meantime, he graduated in 1934 and gave up competitive sports after the Olympics. He devoted himself entirely to his medical profession, first as a general practitioner and then as a doctor at Szent László Hospital. The World War intervened, however, where he was called up as a military doctor. He was then he was taken prisoner by the Americans, from where he fortunately returned home. Due to his civilian origin, however, he was subjected to many atrocities and, because of this, he left Hungary in 1949 and moved to Australia. He continued his medical profession there and worked in private practice until he was 80 years old.

His brother Otto Szymiczek was the first dean of the International Olympic Academy, founded in 1961 and based in Olympia. Otto’s son, Martinos Simitsek-Diagoras in Greek, was the Vice-President of the Greek Olympic Committee.